Xiao Hong Niao
by KaeBird13
Summary: In a mission gone wrong, Robin is taken by an assassin notorious for playing games with their prey. The team has only five days to save him, but not everything is what it seems. Features hurt!Robin, daddybats, and worried team. Rated T for language and blood.
1. Chapter One

**Present Time - Location Unknown**

A bright light shone behind his closed eyelids, snapping Dick awake and he groaned, twisting his neck to escape the unwelcome intrusion to his sleep. Couldn't Alfred let him sleep in for once? He had stayed up late with Bruce the night before, studying files on the latest murder in Gotham. Surely the breakthrough they had warranted him a much needed late morning. He didn't even have school today! "Go 'way, Alfred." He grumbled and went to rub his eyes into wakefulness. His wrist tugged against something and then his shoulder exploded in pain. With a chill that ran straight down his spine, Dick's drew in a sharp breath and opened his eyes. All at once, the pain from his injuries hit and nausea curled in the pit of his stomach.

His head was pounding like somebody had popped it off and used it for a quick game of basketball and Dick closed his eyes again, willing the dizziness to pass. Moments later he managed to squash the urge to puke down to a tolerable level and he blinked his eyes open, assessing the situation. Dick-no, _Robin_ , as he felt the side of his mask press into his sensitive, bruised temple-was lying on a dirt floor, his hands and feet bound behind him and then together, making his back arch and straining his ribs. Where _was_ he? What happened? Fear made him strain against his restraints, but the wiggling only made his breath halter in pain. No, he couldn't panic now, Batman had taught him better than that.

Okay, Robin, he thought, what was the last thing he remembered? Someone had been murdered, a prestigious foreign hotshot, if he remembered correctly. It had been brutal, so brutal that the housekeeper that had found him in his hotel room needed therapy. Batman had been called to help investigate, Robin trailing after him. The Young Justice team had been taking up most of his time as Robin, and he had been content to finally work a case with his mentor again. The murder was definitely a case of revenge, or a hired hit. The money and valuables in the room had been left, ruling out a burglary gone wrong. The coroner had placed the time of death around nine pm, but none of the other guests remembered hearing or seeing anything strange during that time.

A shudder ran through him again and Robin coughed wetly, the motion setting his chest ablaze with agony. So not feeling the aster right now. Robin shuddered again, pausing his train of thought to ride the waves of pain. Breathe. Focus on his breathing. In. Out. In. Out. Right, they had interviewed the witnesses and then Batman and Robin had gone back to the cave to study the pictures and witness reports. They were about to call it a night when Robin had hacked into the murder victim's email and discovered a link to the man's presence and a new drug that had been circling the streets of Gotham. Batman had sent him to bed, noticing that Robin was swaying on his feet from exhaustion, and pursued the lead. The last thing he remembered was collapsing on his bed as Dick Grayson. How did he get from falling asleep in his superman pajamas to being tied up as Robin, beaten and bloody?

Why couldn't he remember? What happened? What the hell had happened? Where was his team, his fath- mentor? Oh god, it hurt so much and he couldn't stop shaking. He needed to calm down. Robin repeated those words in his head over and over again. He had been hurt worse before, at least he was conscious now. That meant he could escape. Escape from where, though? Escape from whom?

Another wave of nausea hit and he wanted to curl up into himself, but his bound limbs prevented him from doing so. Taking another second to collect himself, took a deep breath, ignoring the pain in his chest as his lungs expanded. He had a concussion, though he had no idea how bad. Enough to cause memory loss? Maybe. His ribs felt badly bruised, but not broken. His right shoulder still screamed at him, but he didn't want to lift his head to see what was wrong with it. He could feel blood crusting around his lips and eyes and his side felt wet and sticky. As far as injuries go, he wasn't doing so hot, but he had worse. Thankfully, his mind felt clear and not cloudy.

His head protested as he twisted his neck, first looking at his shoulder. Great, through the torn cloth of his uniform he could see a shallow stab wound. Must be where all the blood was from. It stung, but it was nowhere near life-threatening. . . assuming he could treat it and bind it before it could get infected. Silently, he bit his lip as another dizzy spell rolled over him and then he looked up. The light that had woken him turned out to be a single lightbulb, fixed high above his head on a rocky surface. With a moan, Robin examined his surroundings. He was lying on gravel and dirt in what looked like to be a cave. He was surrounded on three sides by rocky walls. Wire from the lightbulb traveled along the ceiling into inky blackness on the fourth side. The lightbulb was the only thing in the room except for him.

"Hello?" Robin tentatively called out, wincing at the hoarseness of his own voice. "Is there anybody there?" His voice echoed against the stone walls, bouncing several times before there was quiet again. Panic began to claw in his belly again and he scrunched his eyes tight, taking several deep breaths. From the way his voice traveled, the area past the darkness was huge. His childish fear of monsters lurking in the blackness nipped the back of his mind. No. There was no need to fear the dark. He was trained by Batman for heaven's sake, the prince of the dark. He himself was a child of that blackness. Fear of the dark was something he used as a weapon, not something he let control him. It was hard though, to not be afraid when he was bound head to foot in an unfamiliar place with no memory of how he got there. Okay, first things first: getting out of his restraints. His fingers twitched and suddenly he realised how cold his hands and feet were.

No gloves and no boots. A quick glance informed him that his utility belt was gone too. No communicator in his ear either. _"M'gann?"_ Robin called out with his mind, hoping against hope that his team was close. _"Anyone? Are you there? J'onn?"_ Only silence answered him.

He was completely alone.

* * *

 **Present Time - Mount Justice**

The tension was thick as Batman strode into the medical bay of Mount Justice. The five teenagers in the room flinched guiltily as the bat radiated anger. The two other adults stood at his arrival, one stoic and unmoving, the other wary and defensive. "Batman," Black Canary began, her voice full of warning. Red Tornado's posture gave nothing away, but those who knew him knew that he was cautiously waiting to see what the other Justice league member would do. "Take a second to calm down. They're all pretty banged up right now, and don't need you to-"

Batman cut her off with a wave of his hand, his eyes focusing solely on the team that wouldn't meet his unwavering gaze. "What," He ground out, his voice deep and threatening. "Happened?"

Aqualad's hands curled, fisting the white sheet of his bed. He was missing his usual red and black tank, instead there were white bandages wrapped around his chest. As the leader of the team and the one in charge of their latest disastrous mission, he should be the one to explain how things had gone so badly so very fast. But he could not force words up his throat and past his lips. Instead, he turned his light blue eyes onto the black stripes on his arm and wished he could spontaneously combust. This, this was all his fault. What happened to Robin. His fault. Kaldur could still hear the screams.

M'gann hiccuped a small sob and buried her face into her hands, shaking slightly. Her injuries were the lightest of them all-except for Superboy, who had no visible injuries but sat in a chair by M'gann looking absolutely defeated-but she had still been confined to a bed by Black Canary, gauze wrapped around her temples. Kaldur had several cracked ribs and his left leg had been bruised badly. Wally was staring up at the ceiling, his jaw wobbling as he ground his teeth together. He had a broken ankle and a fractured left arm. He had screamed and sobbed the entire flight back to the base and now looked empty. This was their fault too, in a way. Kaldur may have pushed Robin to his doom, but they had stood there and let him do it.

Artemis, the one who had suffered the most injuries out of them-broken arm, broken wrist, broken ribs, a stab wound to her shoulder and thigh, and a concussion-was the only one to look at Batman, her gaze steely, but filled with grief. This was not her fault, and the way she had bitterly ignored them all the flight back reminded Kaldur that she knew that too. "We. . . it-it was a trap, and we fell for it. Robin, he. . . he saved us, but we couldn't save him. I'm so sorry."

Batman stared at her, letting that information sink it, and whirled on Kaldur. "It was a recon mission only," He growled, barely masking the worry in his voice with anger. "Tell me everything that happened after you lost communications with the mountain. Now."

Forget your guilt, Aqualad ordered himself and slipped back into his harden role of leader. Forget your guilt and become a focus on what really matters right now: the mission, Robin. "The _Heishe_ triad had loaded a truck with the last shipment of the drug when Robin contacted M'gann, saying that he had spotted a hostage. . ."

* * *

 **24 Hours Earlier - Mount Justice**

"Two nights ago, Liying Hong, a wealthy Chinese business owner was found murdered in his hotel room in Gotham city." Batman addressed the team, a picture of the Merritt Hotel where the foreign business man had stayed up on the holographic screen.

"Are we going to solve a murder case?" Kid Flash fidgeted excitedly. "Because, dude, that would be totally sweet!"

Robin snorted. "Batman and I already solved the case."

Artemis elbowed Kid Flash in the gut and Aqualad folded his arms. "I apologize for the interruption," The leader said in behalf of his teammate. "Please continue." Interruptions tended to irritate the Batman, and an irritated Batman was not fun and downright scary. Robin sent his friend a proud glance and smugly looked back at his mentor.

Batman waited a second longer before he turned back to the screen, a series of emails replacing the hotel. "The civilians reported no disturbances at the time of death, and there was no evidence of a break in, insinuating that Mr. Hong knew his attacker and let him in. Robin hacked into Mr. Hong's email and discovered cryptic emails Mr. Hong sent to an unknown person about a new drug that has been circling the streets."

"Superesque." Superboy said in surprise, reading the highlighted words in the email. The team looked at him in question. "I heard a couple of kids at school talking about it," He expounded. "Supposed to make you feel like you have superpowers or something."

"I haven't heard of it." M'gann hummed.

"I have." Artemis crossed her arms, mimicking Aqualad's stance. "Real nasty."

"That is right." Batman drew the conversation back to him. "Superesque is a highly addictive substance that is ingested by inhaling a powder through the mouth. For a time, it gives that user a euphoric illusion of having superpowers. However, after several uses the chemicals in the drug start destroying the liver and bone tissue. There have already been deaths caused by long term use and overdose of the drug."

Aqualad felt his insides crawl at the new slide Batman had brought up of several corpses. The bodies belonged to young men and women with shriveled skin and withered limbs.

"So far superesque has only been seen on the east coast, but in the emails that Robin discovered, it seems as if whoever is supplying the drug wishes to see it spread internationally. Mr. Hong, who we are now suspecting of working for the Heishe triad, originally agreed to help with the spread of the drug, but backed out at the last second." Batman flipped the picture again, focusing on a single email.

 _'I can not go through with this plan. There is no room in China for your cursed product. Keep your money and go to hell.'_ Aqualad read the bolded portion silently.

"Uh, who are the Heishe triad?" Kid Flash raised his hand.

It was Robin who answered. "The Heishe triad is an international mafia that is run out of China. Nobody knows who runs it, but they have their claws in fifteen different countries. Like the League of Shadows, they train their operatives to become skilled assassins. They mostly deal in hired hits and drugs, but also have been known to dabble in sex trafficking and smuggling. Pretty scary people, and very, very evil."

"So, what do you want us to do?" Artemis voiced the question on the team's mind.

The holoscreen lit up with a map. "It seemed likely that the supplier of superesque had Mr. Hong killed after backing out of their deal," Batman answered Artemis's question indirectly. "However, Robin and I received a tip of transaction going down tonight between the Heishe triad and an unknown organization in New Jersey. The team will stake out the area where the deal will go down to see if you can determine the identity of the unknown organization. It is highly likely that whoever they are, they are the ones pumping out superesque into the streets."

Batman fixed Aqualad with a hard stare and a frown. "The Heishe triad is an incredibly dangerous group of criminals and you are not to engage them at _any_ cost. This mission is strictly recon and none of you are to be spotted by anyone. Is that clear?"

"Yes sir." Aqualad promised. "Team, move out."

* * *

 **21 Hours Earlier - New Jersey**

The team had parked the bioship as close to the site they were staking out as they dared, and Aqualad had ordered Miss Martian to maintain a constant link with the ship just in case they needed a quick getaway. The site in question was an old warehouse on the edge of a cliff. In the distance the sparkling waters of the Ocean could be seen. "Well, it looks like we don't have to worry about being too quiet." Superboy had mused, looking down the short cliff face at a festival taking place. A few small amusement rides had been set up, but the majority of the crowd below was wandering through the many stall and shops set up. The sounds of laughing and delighted screams roared, making it hard to focus on anything but the celebration going on. The hustle and bustle of the festival would make it hard for anyone to hear them if they made a careless noise, but Aqualad was not one for taking chances.

"Regardless, maintain constant vigilance." The leader advised. "Robin, Artemis, and Miss Martian, I want you three in the warehouse. Kid Flash, you are going to scope out the surrounding area. Superboy and I will maintain watch from out here. Remember what Batman said; do not engage with these criminals for any reason. Contact me as soon as you have something and check in every ten minutes."

His team nodded. _"M'gann"_ Aqualad called out. _"Link us up."_

Miss Martian touched her temple, eyes glowing briefly. _"Link established. Everyone on?"_ A chorus of yeses replied.

 _"Good."_ Aqualad locked eyes with each of his team members. _"Kid Flash, turn on stealth mode. Team, disperse."_

Miss Martian went camouflage, Kid Flash pressed a button on his suit and took off running, and Robin vanished with a cackle. Artemis rolled her eyes and drew her bow with a huff, following her eager companions. Superboy left to take position at the back of the warehouse and Aqualad melted into the shadows of the surrounding trees, pressing his belt to change his shirt into molten grays. Batman's source stated that the deal would go down around midnight, and the team had arrived three hours early to get into position before the scouts could get here. Aqualad crouched down and steeled himself for a long wait.

* * *

 **Present Time - Mount Justice**

Kaldur'ahm's retelling was cut short by an emergency alarm sounding and then Green Arrow's face appearing on Batman's holoscreen. "You better have a good reason for calling." Batman did not bother to hide his anger at the interruption.

"You're going to want to see this, Batman." The graveness in Green Arrow's voice made everyone in the room zero their attention on the holoscreen. "Another visiting Chinese businessman was found dead an hour ago in Star City."

"I don't have time to worry about the murders anymore, Arrow." Batman spat.

The green vigilante shook his head. "The murdered man was wearing Robin's gloves, Batman. And his boots. He, he was tortured and then choked to death. By Robin's utility belt. Carved into his chest are the words 'come find me'. What the hell happened? Where's Robin?"

The room seemed to freeze and then M'gann let out another strangled sob. Kaldur felt the world spinning and he lurched to the side, vomiting. Robin had been taken by that, that _monster_ , and it was _all his fault._

Batman's expression never changed, but when he spoke again his voice had lost the growly hardness he was infamous for. He sounded worried, a terrified father instead of an unmoving hero. "Missing. I'm on my way."

Without a single glance in the team's direction, Batman strode out of the medbay, the snapping of his cape louder than M'gann silent sobs.

Wally rose a hand to his face, covering his eyes. "What have we done?" He whispered. "What have we done?"

* * *

 **Present Time - Classified Location**

"You were supposed to kill the boy, not take him! We want him dead, yesterday!"

"Patience my friends. My operative was not authorized to take the boy, but their decision will work out nicely. Everything we want will happen soon enough. The Justice League is already falling apart, thanks to our performance earlier. They will crack once the boy is dead."

"Then why did you give them a five day window to save him?"

"My friend, what is more tragic? A sudden death? Or fighting so desperately for hope only to have it snuffed out in front of your very eyes?"

"Very well. But we will be withholding our product until your task is complete. Did the boy tell you how much the Justice League knows about our plans?"

"I do not think that is a wise decision, Jonathan. Wouldn't it be better to release the drug, now that we know exactly how it works on those with superpowers? The entire word will lose faith in the Justice League in a matter of hours. And no, the boy has been unconscious since my operative took him. I do not know how much Batman has figured out."

"It's my drug, my decision, and my plan. We need to broadcast the gruesome death of Robin, the most well-known figure of Young Justice, and have the entire world see the Justice League mourning the loss of the child. That will give them a plausible cause to go crazy and start destroying cities, giving the public no reason to forgive them once they are inevitably cured. My decision stands; I will withold my product until you have killed the boy."

"Very well. We will do everything we can so that we too may see The Light."

* * *

 **Well that concludes the first chapter. Please review! I would love to know what you guys liked and disliked. I have about four chapters of this fic written already, and will probably update again within the week. And yes, to all those who are wondering, this fic will be heavy on the Robin whump. A quick note, I do speak a little Chinese. Not enough to call myself fluent by any means, but enough that I can read and pronounce pinyin pretty well. I've elected to write the words in Chinese in pinyin and not in characters, and I've left the tones off to make it easier for you guys to read. Heishe is pronounced hey-shuh, and not like the pronoun to describe those of the female gender. It means black snake. Pretty generic, but whatever.**

 **Once again, please review!**


	2. Chapter Two

**18 Hours Ago - New Jersey**

Kid Flash skidded to a stop, hiding his presence in the thick trees. " _Incoming,"_ He relayed telepathically. " _Two vans headed for the warehouse."_

" _I also have incoming traffic,"_ Aqualad replied. " _Just one suburban, headed in your direction, Superboy. Can you see through?"_

" _Five people, all heavily armed."_ Superboy confirmed.

" _Looks like the deal is about to go down."_ Robin warned. " _We're in position, Aqualad."_

" _Good. Kid Flash, follow your vans."_

Nodding even though his teammates couldn't see him, Kid Flash waited till the two vehicles had passed his position and then ran after them. He was about twenty miles out from the warehouse, but there was no doubt that these were the guys he was looking for. In the three hours that he had been patrolling, he had yet to see a single car on these forest roads besides the two black vans with tinted windows. His stomach rumbled, but he didn't open his emergency snack bar, not yet.

The vans kicked up dust and Kid Flash, following from the treeline, covered his mouth. If he was running faster, he would blow right past the dust before he had a chance to inhale it, but he had to slow his speed down so he didn't overshoot the vehicles. Tapping the side of his head, he switched his goggles into heat vision mode. " _Six people in each of my cars."_ He told the team, his eyes narrowing. " _And they're all packing. Man, overkill much?"_ Whoever these people were, they had brought double the numbers to this meet.

" _Most likely the Heishe,"_ Aqualad informed. " _Our five guys just departed their vehicle and they are all distinctly caucasian. Maintain a good distance from your target, Kid Flash. Do not get spotted. Robin, Artemis, and Miss Martian, be prepared. The men are about to enter the building."_

" _Roger that."_ Miss Martian firmly declared.

Kid Flash wanted to make a dumb joke that would normally have Artemis attempting to break his ribs to alleviate the tension in the conversation, but he refrained. Robin had taken him aside before the team left and gently warned him about the seriousness of their mission. Batman had been planning on taking this mission himself, but the Joker had broken out of Arkham and he needed to take care of that. The rest of the Justice League were busy with their own criminals and it had taken Robin half a day to convince Batman to let the team take this mission. The Heishe were not people to be messed with and the dealers of superesque had proven themselves to be just as dangerous. The only reason they were even here was because Robin had promised his mentor that they-for once-would only gather intel and not engage.

On the bioship flight Kid Flash had done some research on the Heishe and grimly agreed with Batman's concerns. The triad had several hundred bodies others had stated were their doing. The organization itself was incredibly secretive and never outright claimed their kills. The only reason the Justice League and the police internationally knew about the triad was through whispers in the criminal underground. They had only been active for about five years, just a baby in the eyes of other mafias, but they were already feared.

" _ETA three minutes,"_ Kid Flash laid eyes on the destined warehouse.

In terms of warehouses, this one wasn't bad, Robin remembered some of the ones he had staked out in Gotham. It was empty for now, but it didn't look abandoned. There were no security cameras and the locks on the windows were basic. The three of them had slipped inside three hours ago and had spent that time scoping out every inch of the warehouse, memorizing all the objects, doors, and windows in the room.

" _Incoming,"_ Kid Flash's voice spoke in Robin's mind. " _Two vans headed for the warehouse."_

" _I also have incoming traffic. Just one suburban, headed in your direction Superboy. Can you see through?"_

"Remember what you need to do?" Robin asked his other two teammates.

Artemis nodded. "I'm watching the doors and windows for any sign of trouble."

Miss Martian held up a small device. "I will be behind those crates in camouflage recording the exchange."

"And I'll be up in the rafters, videoing everything from above." Robin finished. "Go."

" _Five people, all heavily armed."_ Superboy told their leader.

Robin shot his grappling gun and flipped onto a wooden beam, wrapping his dark cape about his bright chest. " _Looks like the deal is about to go down. We're in position, Aqualad."_

The tip about this meet had come from one of the dealers of superesque Batman and Robin had apprehended the night after the murder. Before it had seemed that Liying Hong had been killed by the creators of superesque for backing out of their plan, but the dealer had squealed that he had heard of a meeting between the Heishe and the creators going down anyway. If Hong was the middleman, why was the meet still happening after he had been torn to shreds? Robin had his suspicions that Hong had backed out of his own accord, and not on the behalf of the triad.

" _Good."_ Their chosen leader replied. " _Kid Flash, follow your vans."_

Robin's body brimmed with a nervous energy that he never grew tired of. As someone who grew up doing death-defying stunts on a trapeze, he would be the first to admit that he was a bit of an adrenaline junky. When his parents were murdered, he traded performing in front of a crowd to protecting people. While he loved the trapeze and the roar of an approving crowd, there was something different and _better_ about the high he got from solving cases and taking down bad guys.

Seven minutes later, Kid Flash spoke through the link, sounding almost impressed. " _Six people in each of my cars. And they're all packing. Man, overkill much?"_

The nervous energy flickered with dread and Robin swallowed, suddenly getting a very, very bad feeling. From the reports that he and Batman had gathered, the Heishe never sent in a large crowd to do their dirty work, always preferring to send it a small group of their very best operatives. Three or four, usually. Which group was the triad and which one was the drug dealers? The five or the twelve?

" _Most likely the Heishe,"_ Aqualad's input further sowed Robin's doubts. " _Our five guys just departed their vehicle and they are all distinctly caucasian. Maintain a good distance from your target, Kid Flash. Do not get spotted. Robin, Artemis, and Miss Martian, be prepared. The men are about to enter the building."_

" _Roger that."_ Miss Martian replied with the confidence Robin was lacking. The youngest member pushed his feelings aside and readied his camera. He had done recon missions dozens of times with Batman, they would be completely fine. Except Batman wasn't here this time. Where was his usual cocky bravado? Robin berated himself with irritation. If there was a time to get traught, this would be it.

The doors to the warehouse swung open and five armed men strolled in. Robin started recording as he studied their faces intently. There was nothing too remarkable about them. They all wore dark long sleeved shirts and cargo pants. Their haircuts made them look like a standard white guy at a prestigious university, but they held their weapons in a way that suggested they knew how to use them. The shortest man in the room stepped forward, surveying the warehouse with a frown. He had dark brown hair and brown eyes. His face was plain and Robin could see no distinguishing feature to mark him by. "Secure the area," He ordered. Robin zoomed in on his face and snapped a picture. He wanted to send the picture straight back to the mountain, but couldn't risk the light from the holoscreen in his gauntlet giving away his position.

The four men followed their instructions, one of them getting uncomfortably close to Miss Martian's hiding spot.

" _ETA three minutes,"_ Kid Flash warned.

" _The men inside the warehouse are not carrying anything,"_ Artemis remarked, sounding suspicious. Robin examined each of the men, but they only had their guns slung around their bulletproof vests. " _No product, no drugs."_

After a moment, Aqualad replied. " _Superboy, check their vehicle. Be careful and do not get caught."_

The rumble of cars pulling outside the warehouse drew Robin's attention. "They're here." The man who seemed to be the leader cautioned his men. "Do not open fire unless they attack first. Nobody speaks but me, is that understood?"

"Yes sir!" Came from four people.

" _The suburban is empty. No drugs in here."_ Superboy informed.

" _The vans have stopped, but men have only exited one of them. They are all wearing masks. Be ready, they're about to enter into the building."_

Robin felt a chill at the trepidation in his leader's voice. Whatever was about to go down, he had a feeling it wasn't going to be a simple exchange like they had thought.

* * *

 **Present Time - Location Unknown**

He worked the sharp stone he had found against the ropes binding him. Robin had been sawing for an hour now and was almost through. In that time he had heard nothing and seen nothing alluding to his captor's presence or the reason why he was here. The nausea and dizziness had almost faded away to nothing, but his arms and legs were starting to cramp. With one final tug, his bindings snapped and Robin curled in on himself, stretching his back. Finally he pushed himself up, one hand going to the stab wound on his shoulder. Now what?

He was missing his utility belt, along with it any of the emergency first aid supplies he had. His cloak had been special made by Batman to almost impenetrable, so tearing strips off of it would be practically impossible. Besides, it was getting chilly and he needed it to keep warm. Robin settled for untucking his shirt and using that to make a bandage. He quickly wrapped his shoulder to keep anything else from getting near the smarting wound, pressing his hand to it once more. That done, he considered his options.

The obvious choice was to go down the dark tunnel, but he was wary about traveling in the dark. His flashlights were gone with his belt and gauntlets, and the lightbulb was too high up to unbolt and carry with him. Were his team members and Batman looking for him? Probably, but Robin couldn't remember how he had disappeared. Did they even know he was gone? The rocks on the ground bit into his barefeet, but that was the least of his worries at the moment. His other hand reached up and turned on his emergency beacon in his R insignia, but he wasn't too hopeful. The beacon worked on radio frequencies that could easily be blocked by thick stone. Was he underground or in a cave?

I am not scared of the dark, Robin thought to himself after a moment's hesitation and then plunged into the dark tunnel, one hand trailing along the rocky wall. He kept his steps small, testing the ground in front of him before placing his full weight on it. There were no sounds of wind or chittering critters. The light from the cavern behind him began to fade and soon he was plunged into pitch black. His wispiness of his breath surprised him, and he concentrated on the noise. Wherever he was, he was here and all he needed to do was keep breathing and take one step at a time. Right now he really missed Kaldur's warm confidence, Wally's carefree jokes, M'gann's boundless optimism, Conner's impassive but kind nature, and Artemis's willful realism. What he would give to have them here right now.

Most of all, he missed Batman.

" _You would send us all to our deaths!"_

The memory came out of nowhere and felt like a bullet to his brain. Robin gasped and clenched his eyes shut. The voice was Aqualad's, but he was unsure who the words were directed at. He had never heard his leader sound so angry before, so malicious. With renewed determination, Robin resumed his trek. He needed to get out of here and find out exactly what happened.

* * *

 **Present Time - Star City**

Batman crouched next to the body, gingerly plucking off his protege's gloves from the dead man. The tech in the gauntlets had been crushed and there was no more rope in the grappling mechanism in either glove, matching up with what Artemis had told him. The seams from the gloves and boots had been ripped so they could be forced onto the larger man's body. He wanted to rub a hand over his face at the sight of the cruelly cut words on the man's bare chest, but Batman never showed any emotion in public. Robin's fully intact utility belt was still wrapped around the purpling neck of the dead man.

He wanted to be angry. Angry at himself. At the team. At the world. But all he felt right now was numb. Logically he knew what had happened couldn't be blamed on the team, they were victims of the drug's effects, but Batman couldn't help but feel this was their fault. No. It was his fault. He knew how dangerous the Heishe were, and he sent them anyway. What had happened to the team, what had happened to Robin, was his fault.

With twitching fingers, he clasped the utility belt and unwrapped it from the man's throat. _Please, baby._ He stared at the yellow object. _Please be safe till I find you._

"Batman," Green Arrow said from behind him. "Will you please tell me what's going on? I called Artemis earlier but she. . ." He trailed off uncertainly.

Batman stood and faced him. "Have you heard of Lao She of the Heishe triad?"

Green Arrow palled. "Old Snake? I-I thought he was just a myth."

God, Batman wished he was. The assassin was rumoured to be the most dangerous out of all of the triad's operatives. A little over half of all the triad's hits were said to be the work of Lao She. When the assassin was paid to kill, he struck out swift and deadly and left no evidence behind. When he killed for fun. . . he liked to play with his targets, dragging things out for weeks at a time if possible. Liying Hong's body was a testament to how he preferred to carve up his victims. Batman gestured to the dead body on the ground. "Lao She killed this man to send us a message. He wants to play a game and Robin is the prize."

The archer shook his head. "You sent the team to monitor a drug transaction. How did it turn out like this?"

"There was never a drug transaction. It was a trap the whole time; a ruse to lure out metahumans and aliens so they could test their drug on those who already had super powers." Batman sighed. "And it's bad. The effects are so much worse than we could have imagined. We need stop the spread of this drug before it goes international, but. . ."

"We need to find Robin." Green Arrow finished.

They needed to save his charge, his protege, his son. Before it was too late.

* * *

 **5 Hours Earlier - Location Unknown**

Dajie had been so mad when she found out Lao She had knocked the boy out and taken him during the confusion, but the assassin didn't care. Their orders had been to kill Batman's student and leave him as a nasty little surprise for the Justice League to find. But the look of terror on the boy's face and the way he had fought so hard to save his friends even as Lao She dug their knife deeper into his shoulder had awaken some primal instinct in the assassin. They just had to have him, the leader of the Heishe's orders be damned. Their leader's opinion never mattered much to them to begin with, and this little birdy was worth it. The skilled killer gently placed the boy's body on the ground, perfectly center in the circular room. They lashed Robin's hands together behind his back and then bent his legs back. His back curved out and Lao She tied his legs to his wrists.

The position was notoriously hard to escape from, but Lao She had no doubt their prize was skilled enough to free himself. And if he wasn't, it would prove that he wasn't meant to play Lao She's game and would die anyway. Pressing a kiss to the dried blood on the boy's forehead, Lao She cut away Robin's utility belt, throwing it next to his removed gloves and boots. The assassin stood, eyes caressing the bent body of the bird. Blood seeped from the wound in his shoulder, gravity pooling it at his side. The painful wound from their knife would stop bleeding on its own soon enough and the assassin wasn't worried about losing the boy to blood loss before they had a chance to play their game.

His breathing was labored from his bruised torso, each intake causing a squeaking noise. Lao She had never seen anything so adorable. The boy was only an inch shorter than themself, but they still thought him to be ridiculously tiny. Gathering Robin's missing articles of clothing, the assassin walked out, pausing only to set up the next room for the boy to discover. As soon as Lao She left, the lights in the tunnels would shut off, encasing the boy in darkness. Three hours from now, the assassin would turn them back on to wake the boy.

They left the building, locking the door behind them. Three masked assassins waited outside, kneeling on the muddy ground. "You," Lao She beckoned the closest man. He respectfully rose and Lao She passed Robin's gear to him. "I want you to kill Zhang Liu. He is in Star City, you will find him at the Eccles Conference Center. Send a message for me to Batman. I want him to know I have his pretty little bird right where I want him."

"It will be done, _laoshi_." The man bowed. He made to leave, but Lao She stopped him by clearing their throat.

"One more thing, _xuesheng,_ have fun while doing it."

After all, Robin wasn't the only player in their game.


	3. Chapter Three

**Present Time - Mount Justice**

There wasn't a single person in the room who wasn't uncomfortable. Conner Kent surveyed his friends will dull eyes, rubbing circles into M'gann's hand. Kaldur had yet to move after he had thrown up earlier and Wally had taken to throwing a rubber band ball at the ceiling. Artemis had refused pain meds earlier in favor of glaring at all of them. Black Canary had been called away half an hour ago by Batman and Red Tornado had left with her, leaving the teenager alone to sulk in their misery.

"Well," Artemis finally snapped. "Is anyone going to say anything?"

Conner flinched, eyes flickering to the blonde and then back at the small green hand clasped in his. Every time he looked at Artemis, all he could see was his fist crushing her wrist as she screamed at him to stop and Robin vainly trying to pull him off of her. He was going to need months of Black Canary's counseling to get past this trauma.

Wally caught the ball and stopped. "So you're not ignoring us anymore?" His voice was bitter. Conner could tell he was projecting the anger he felt towards himself at her.

Artemis folded her arms, or tried to, as one of them was stuck in a green cast. "Look me in the eye and tell me you didn't deserve it."

Wally started throwing the ball again.

"I'm sorry." M'gann whispered, withdrawing her hand from Conner so she could wrap her arms around her torso.

"Sorry? Sorry isn't good enough!"

The Martian looked up sharply. "Well, what do you want me to say? That I hate myself so much right now I want to die? That I would give anything to go back and change what happened? Well I can't! And neither can you!" As quickly as the fire in her eyes lit up it died, and M'gann paled in remorse. "I'm so sorry. Apologies are the only thing I can give."

"We're all sorry." Conner muttered, the crack of bones breaking still ringing his his ears. "We, I, I don't know how we'll ever make this right. To you. To Robin."

"You can start by admitting that none of this is your fault." Artemis demanded. The other four teenagers turned to her in shock. "It was the fault of the drug, not any of you. Once you admit that, we can finally move on and figure out how we're going to _save_ Robin! Mopping on your asses is not going to help him. So what you guys went crazy and attacked Robin and me, but like you said, you can't go back and change that. So stop feeling sorry for yourselves!"

Her words, instead of inspiring Conner out of his stupor only sent more shame spiraling through him. _Artemis's scream. Robin's hand tugging at his arm, demanding to know what the fuck Superboy was doing. Turning on the smaller boy. Robin's grunt as his fist sent him crashing into the stall. The look of betrayal on his face, almost as heartbreaking as it was when Aqualad snarled at him. Fleeing pedestrians, the sounds of a fun festival turning into a hellish nightmare. And Superboy. Didn't. Care._

Nobody said anything to Artemis's demands and the girl threw her head back and groaned. "What happened wasn't your guys' fault, but right now, letting this team fall apart is. Do you have anything to say, oh glorious leader?"

Kaldur tore his eyes away from Artemis's furious glare. "How could I have said that to him?" He asked brokenly. "How could I have let this happen?"

"Did you hear _anything_ I just said?"

Wally threw the ball across the room. It smashed into a glass vial, the shards exploding across the floor. "You don't understand Artemis!" He yelled. "Rob is my _best friend_ and I fucking threw him headfirst into a fucking building! I broke your leg! And you're telling me it's not my fault? Like fuck it isn't! I know we were drugged, but so were you and Robin! And you guys didn't go ballistic and try to kill us! We should have been stronger, we should have fought it! Not each other! Not. . . not you."

"Wally," Artemis said softly. She waited till the redhead lifted his chin and met her eyes. "I forgive you. I forgive you, okay?"

Tears welled up in the speedster's eyes and he buried his face in his hands. "Don't. Please don't."

"I forgive you Wally." Artemis repeated. "I forgive all of you. And if I have to carry this team until the rest of you can forgive yourselves, I will. So please, please stop beating yourselves up so we can work on saving Robin."

"Artemis. . ." M'gann stopped holding herself and gave her hand back to Conner. The clone began absentmindedly resumed rubbing it again, Artemis's words replacing her screams in his mind. He didn't know if he could ever truly forgive himself, but he would try. For her, for Robin, for himself. "Thank you, friend."

Kaldur took in a halting breath. "Artemis is right." The Atlantean sat up, staring at his hand before fisting it. "Lao She said we have five days to find him before it's too late. Team, we have some work to do."

* * *

 **18 Hours Ago - New Jersey**

Six masked men entered the warehouse, and Miss Martian felt warning bells go off in her mind. " _Guys,"_ She voiced her thoughts. " _I have a bad feeling about this."_

" _Same here,"_ Robin agreed. " _Something doesn't feel right about all of this."_

" _Maintain position,"_ Aqualad ordered. " _Retreating now would only give our presence away. Kid Flash, Superboy, be ready to move in if we need to extract Robin, Miss Martian, and Artemis."_

Miss Martian bit back her retort that she could take care of herself just fine, thank you very much, and started the audio recording of the conversation. The men stood off in silence for a minute before one person from each organization stepped forward. The same man who had told the first group to secure the warehouse, and one of the mask men Miss Martian knew she wouldn't be able to pick out from the crowd if he chose to step back in alignment with his comrades. "Jonathan O'Malley, I presume." The faceless man grunted, his voice distorted by the mask he was wearing.

O'Malley's lips twitched. "I"m afraid I can't show you the same respect you have given me, seeing as the Heishe did not tell us which of their operatives they have sent."

"It's for your own protection as well as ours." The man shrugged. "Did you bring the product with you?"

"No," O'Malley fingered his gun. "It is at another site, close by. It's for your protection as well as ours."

"Very well then," The tone in the man's voice did not change. "I will have my men pick it up as we do the monetary exchange. They will also drop off our second part of the exchange at the site."

O'Malley turned to one of his men standing guard. "Riley, give this gentleman the coordinates of the product."

" _The drugs are at a second location. The Heishe are about to leave to pick it up."_ Miss Martian informed the members that weren't in the warehouse.

" _Kid Flash, as soon as that vehicle leaves I want you to follow it."_ Aqualad replied.

The blond man O'Malley had called Riley handed off a slip of paper to the masked leader. Without looking at it, the leader handed it off to one of his men. "Bring the money."

The transaction was over with quickly, too quickly in Miss Martian's mind, but she wasn't about to complain. She stopped the audio recording as the men filled out of the warehouse. The three in the warehouse did not move until five minutes after they heard the car leave. Miss Martian deactivated her camouflage and Robin flipped down from the rafters. Artemis emerged from the corner she was hiding in.

"Robin to Mount Justice." The youngest activated his communicator. He waited for a reply and then continued. "The deal has gone down. We are definitely dealing with the Heishe triad and I got pictures of every man we think is behind the creation of superesque. Sending them to you now, over." With a flick of his wrist, Robin activated the computer built into his gauntlets and uploaded the video and pictures, sending them straight to the mountain.

Red Tornado's voice crackled in her own communicator. "Red Tornado to team. Maintain pursuit of all parties. Facial recognition has identified Jonathan O'Malley, Riley Christopher, Steven Crocker, Robert Johnson, and Matthew Markley. The five have been arrested for petty theft in the past and have not shown any violent behavior since released from jail five years ago. Regardless, maintain caution. Report back to the mountain in ten minutes, over."

The three nodded and exited the warehouse, meeting back up with Aqualad and Superboy outside. "Kid Flash is already pursuing the second van that left before the rest. Superboy, you and Miss Martian follow O'Malley and his group. Robin, Artemis, and I will take the second Heishe van. Team, move out."

Miss Martian nodded her agreement and took off flying next to her running boyfriend. They did not speak, even when Miss Martian felt distance cut the psychic link to the rest of the team. Her strange sense of something being wrong about this whole thing was still present and growing worse. With a start, Miss Martian realized they had taken a long route down the cliff and the festival was once again back in sight. The suburban they had been following stopped against the rocky cliff face about a mile away from the festival and the men got back out, this time without their weapons and bulletproof vests.

Miss Martian tentatively reached her mind out and felt the presence of the rest of her team once again. " _We're back at the festival."_ She contacted them with surprise.

" _I got here about twenty minutes ago."_ Kid Flash commented. " _Been checking out some of the food stalls they have here."_ Miss Martian rolled her eyes in disbelief and Superboy snorted. " _What? I got hungry! . . .Nobody saw me."_

" _Our van parked a mile out from the activities on the side of the road."_ Artemis wisely ignored Kid Flash. " _But none of our guys have left the vehicle."_

" _Same here, 'cept ours went into the crowd"_ Superboy joined in, tracking the men with his excellent eyesight.

" _Mine haven't left their vehicle either."_ Kid Flash inputted. " _Though they parked right next to a public restroom, next to a couple of trucks."_

" _Miss Martian, go cammo and follow your guys."_ Aqualad ordered. " _See where they're headed. The rest of you, maintain position."_

Miss Martian faded from sight and floated above the heads of the crowd, following closely behind O'Malley and his men. " _I think they're headed to the restroom. I see the suburban and the trucks Kid was talking about."_

" _Why meet in a completely different place to exchange money and then come back together for the drugs? Something doesn't feel right about this."_ Robin wondered forebodingly. Miss Martian quiety agreed with his thoughts.

O'Malley and his men disappeared behind the restrooms and reappeared with several crates, which they started loading into the trucks. Out of the corner of her eye, Miss Martian spotted Kid Flash, carefully hidden behind a bush, munching on a donut. She floated down behind him and rematerialized. Quietly, she lightly tapped him on the shoulder. He startled, but didn't yelp.

"Have any of the Heishe gotten out of their vehicle?" She asked, her voice low. He shook his head and swallowed the last bit of his donut.

" _O'Malley's loading up the truck with crates. Probably the drug."_ Miss Martian informed the rest of the situation.

" _There's really something not right about all this."_ Robin hissed. " _The Heishe are the ones who bought the drug, shouldn't they be the ones loading it into the trucks? Aqualad, I'm going in for a closer look."_

" _Alright. Proceed with caution."_

Miss Martian gripped Kid Flash's shoulder as they watched O'Malley's men finish loading the last crate into the truck. They had started to walk away when Robin's panicked voice broke into Miss Martian's mind.

" _Guys, the sixth person in the van is a kid! The Heishe have a hostage! That must be what the masked man meant by the other part of the exchange-"_

Robin's message was cut short by his cry of pain.

* * *

 **Present Time - Watchtower**

Batman had picked apart Robin's boot, gauntlets, and utility belt he had recovered from the body is Star City. There had to be something hidden in the objects, some sort of message or clue. Why else had the infamous assassin sent them back to him via murder? The man, another visiting Chinese official named Zhang Liu, had no connections to the Heishe or the O'Malleys that he could. There must be a reason why Lao She had picked this man to send their message, Batman did not believe in coincidences. Lao She seemed to be fond of puzzles, and he was sure there was something more than just the words ' _come find me'_ carved into the man's chest. Something he was overlooking.

"Batman."

The detective ignored the weary sigh of the man of steel, picking up his son's crushed glove. Artemis had said that the thick padding of the tech in the gauntlets was the only thing that had stopped Superboy from crushing his son's wrists like he had crushed hers. His tiny wrists.

"Bruce,"

"Don't." Ice dripped from the venom in Batman's voice.

He felt the presence of the alien behind him, but did not turn around. "There is nobody near us, besides half the league already knows your true identity. The Flash and Martian Manhunter reported that they have subdued the Joker and he is on his way back to Arkham. Just thought I would let you know."

Batman could almost hear Clark's hesitant hand reach up to grip his shoulder, but drop in defeat. "Agent A says you haven't been answering your communicator. The absence of Gotham's most famous billionaire has not gone unnoticed, and the press are starting to get wind that everything's not alright with the Waynes. You need to go home, Bruce. Get some sleep. Staring at that glove isn't going to give you more answers than what you already know."

Batman placed the glove down next to its pair. "My son, Clark," He said thickly. "My son is missing, taken to be tortured and then executed, and you want me to go home. I _can't_. Not until I find him. The children reported that we only have five days to find him before Lao She kills him. Day one is almost finished. I should have never let him go."

"No one knew." Superman chided gently. "Nobody could have possibly known that the Heishe and the O'Malleys were looking to test their drug on mettas and aliens. If it wasn't Young Justice, it would have been the Justice League who got hit."

He left the unspoken words of how much worse it could have been if members of the Justice League had gone crazy and started attacking civilians.

"I should have known."

Superman sighed again. Bruce didn't know how to forgive himself and always took things too personally. He decided it was time for a subject change. "I sent Wally and Kaldur home to recover. Black Canary says that Artemis needs to rest a couple of days before she can go. I know you're aching to be spitting mad at somebody, but don't blame the team. It wasn't their fault. Robin risked everything to save them. He wouldn't want you to blame them."

Batman snarled at him. "The only ones I'm angry at are the Heishe and the O'Malleys." At Clarks disbelieving look, Batman's shoulders minisculely drooped. "Yet, parts of me wish he didn't save them. An out of control Superboy, Kid Flash, Miss Martian, and Aqualad are the last things we need to deal with right now, but if he didn't save them, he would still be here. Lao She wouldn't have taken him."

This time Clark did grasp Batman's shoulder, silently thanking him for opening up. Five years ago Superman wouldn't even go into the same room as an angry Batman. The presence of Robin had healed so much in the broken man, making him kinder, more trusting. The Batman of five years ago wouldn't even say hello to him, nevertheless confide his dark thoughts. Superman was honestly scared of what would happen to the man if they didn't get to Robin in time. They had to, for Bruce's sake. For all their sakes.

"New Jersey." Batman shot up suddenly. "We have been searching Star City and Gotham, but Zhang Liu was only in Star for a business meeting. He had been staying in New Jersey for most of his trip. Everything leads back there." With a twirl of his cape, Batman was gone, Superman close at his heels.

* * *

 **Present Time - Location Unknown**

Robin had walked for about thirty minutes when he noticed a faint light in the distance. His steps quickened until he was practically running for the source. Soon enough he was in a cavern much like the one he had woken up in, except with another tunnel trailing off to the left. A single bulb lit up the area. However, this time he was not alone.

His breath hitched at the small pile of dead robins in the center of the room. There were five that he could count, and their wings had been broken and their necks snapped. This was obviously a scare tactic, something to freak him out. He was not ashamed to say it was working. There was nothing shameful about being scared - especially when he _still_ had no idea what the fuck was going on. Robin walked up to the pile and knelt down, the hand not still clutching his shoulder reaching out to stroke the feathers of one of the birds. He had only been awake for about two hours now, but he was exhausted. All he wanted was to go home, hug Bruce, and drink tea with Alfred. Not stare at his dead namesake, wondering how the hell he had ended up in this mess.

The dead bird shifted at his touch, revealing something glimmering from underneath the pile. Curiosity overcame his disgust, and Robin plunged his bare hand into the center, withdrawing a black object. Miss Martian's voice recorder! Wait, he had never seen this device before, how did he know it belonged to M'gann?

Robin flicked the switch and men's' voices echoed in the still quiet of his rocky prison. Narrowing his eyes, Robin listened with confusion. He was listening to what sounded like some sort of exchange. Something about a product and a second location.

"The Heishe thank you for doing business with them." The gravelly voice concluded, sounding even more distorted through the speaker of the device. The Heishe? Robin knew of the triad, but had never dealt with them. Batman had heard of reports, though, of the criminals moving into Gotham around the same time Liying Hong was murdered.

 _Wally's fist pumping in the air as he asked if they were going to solve a murder. Robin's smirking reply. Batman's nervousness about the whole thing only being seen by Robin. His assurance to his mentor that nothing would go wrong, he would make sure of it. The new drug, superesque. Tip of a meeting in New Jersey._

Robin gasped as suddenly the memory of a mission briefing with the team came back to him. Liying Hong and superesque! Of course! That explained why he was in his Robin uniform, at least. But what had happened in New Jersey? Miss Martian's recording indicated that they had watched the exchange go down, but Robin couldn't remember any of it. Most importantly, why did he feel like he went a couple of rounds with an angry Superboy and came out on the losing end?

"Did you like my present, my little Robin?" A heavily accented voice crackled from the voice recorder. The boy almost dropped it in his surprise. "I found it fitting, an excellent prediction of the future. If you're listening to this, you must have gotten out of your restraints, you clever little boy. I knew I chose well when I picked you. The little green girl with the arrows was oh so tempting, but you, _you_ were just so clever I couldn't resist."

There was something so very wrong with the false sweetness in the voice that had dread pooling into the pit of Robin's stomach. It made his skin crawl and his legs itch with the need to run. "You may be wondering why I have brought you here. I would tell you, but that would ruin all of the fun. You may call me Lao She, and I so do look forward to meeting you again, my dear Robin," The voice chuckled. "That is, if you manage to survive the next five minutes."

There was a loud boom and the walls started to shake. Robin sprang to his feet, dropping the device. "Well shit," He spoke to the open air, his panic escaping through words. Alfred would be appalled that he used such language, but Robin couldn't find it in him to care at the moment. The light bulb above his head flickered and then went dead, plunging him in darkness. "Shit."

There was a crack and a bang as part of the rock ceiling gave way and crashed to the ground. Robin, not knowing what else to do, blindly reached out for the walls to stabilize himself. He stumbled, one foot slamming down into the pile of dead birds, the bodies giving way under his weight. Little bones stabbed into his soles as blood swelled between his toes. Something inside him wailed in misery at his unintentional mutilation of the poor animals' bodies, but he had no time to mourn. There was another shudder and Robin's hand finally felt the wall.

Not knowing what else to do, he took off running, not sure if he was following the new path or the one he had just came from. It didn't matter, he just had to get _out_. There was a splintering noise and before Robin had time to cry out, something struck him in the back, sending him sprawling to the ground. His chin hit the dirt and he bit through his lip, but the pain from that was not enough to keep the impact from knocking him out again.

He didn't notice the rumbling stop or the faceless figure that loomed over his body, cackling quietly in the dark.

* * *

 **Really, thank you all for the wonderful reviews! It means so much to me. I'm predicting this story will be about six chapters total. Just a short thing to wet my feet in this fandom. I have so many ideas for stories, you guys have no idea. And now that Young Justice will be getting its coveted 3rd season, I'm even more excited! When I started this fic, it was going to be an angsty two-shot hurt/comfort story focusing mainly on Dick and Artemis. But then I got carried away. Anywho, thanks for reading and please review! (Like seriously, I'm begging here)**

 **To the anon who was the first review to my story, if you're still reading this I'm probably going to delete those reviews (all six, really really long reviews). At first I thought you were criticizing the power dynamic I was hinting at in the little blurb at the end, but after the first paragraph I was confused. I'm still confused, but then I saw that you posted the exact same review on several other stories posted close to the same time as mine. Seeing as the reviews don't pertain to my story at all-tbh, I have no idea what the goal of those reviews is-I'm not going to keep for the sake of other readers going 'huh, i wonder what this story's about'. Thanks anyway, I guess.**


	4. Chapter Four

**Present Time - Location Unknown**

Once the rumbling had stopped, the slim figure of the assassin only known as Lao She slipped into the tunnels of the underground. The small chain of explosives they had set earlier had done its job to make the tunnels unstable and caused several cave ins. After a short walk, they spotted a figure lying on the ground, and they grinned with pleasure. It did not matter if the little bird was dead or alive, Lao She got satisfaction from known just how _close_ the birdy had gotten to the exit before he was brought down. Crouching down by the boy, Lao She wiped some blood off his face. Poor thing had bit through his lip. Slim fingers pressed into the boy's neck, and Lao She giggled to find a steady pulse. What a trooper.

Lao She grabbed the boy's arms and slung them around their shoulders, standing up and dragging him back towards the exit. They had left the boy in the caves, letting him simmer in fear until he couldn't take the dark and the quiet anymore, for only a couple of hours. It would have been more effective it they had left them there for a couple of days at least, but they had a schedule to maintain. The assassin had been waiting outside for the boy to press the button of the voice recorder they had finagled with and unknowingly set off the bombs that would destroy the tunnels. It was fine, the tunnels had been getting old anyway and Lao She had been aching to spend some personal time with their prize since they had snatched him up from the festival in New Jersey. Not to mention the Heishe got wind that Batman was currently on his way to their location.

They reached the exit just as Lao She felt the unstable ground shudder and creak. They had only minutes until the ground gave way, hiding Lao She's caverns permanently. But there was some things they needed to do first. Pulling a needle from their pocket, Lao She expelled the air bubble and then squeezed its contents into the bird's neck. He would wake up feeling sick and sore, but this would keep him unconscious for several more hours. The next thing Lao She did was tear off Robin's R insignia from his chest and placed it lovingly on the ground, slipping a piece of paper underneath the device.

The emergency beacon, now that it wasn't being blocked by heavy stone walls, was sure to bring half the Justice League. Lao She and their prize were going to be long gone before they showed up. The thrumming of a chopper sang to them and they picked up the birdy once more, dragging him to the aircraft. Lao She's minions helped pull the broken bird inside, tying his wrists together once more. The assassin took their place in the front of the cab and nodded for the pilot to take off. The blades whirled faster, kicking dust and leaves up into the air and they lifted off the ground.

A crackle in their headset was all the warning they got before a harsh voice interrupted their flight. "Dajie to Lao She, come in Lao She,"

Sighing in annoyance, Lao She replied. "I was hoping to have at least a couple more hours before you insisted on torturing me."

They got a growl in response. "I hope you know what you're doing. We have the Justice League and the O'Malleys on our asses thanks to your little stunt. You were supposed to kill the boy, not take him as your next plaything. The O'Malleys are refusing to do business with us until they see proof of his death. You may be my best operative, but I am not opposed to _replacing_ you."

Lao She bristled at the comment, but maintained their casual tone. Soon enough Dajie would be history, and they would be the ones leading the Heishe. But now was not the time or place for a rebellion. They had to bide their time, gain more followers, and then take what was rightfully theirs. "The boy will be dead, mark my words, oh great Dajie, but in my way and on my time. While a quick death might have angered the Justice League, think of how enraged they will be when I send their precious boy wonder back to them in pieces."

"I will hold you to that Lao She," Dajie murmured. "Breaking apart the Justice League is the quickest way to bring the Heishe into The Light."

As if they cared about joining an all-star villains club with the rest of the world's major baddies. Carving up people was so much more fun than trying to destroy life as they knew it. "Of course, master." Lao She replied dandily. There was an angry gasp on the other end and Lao She chuckled. Dajie considered it to be a great insult to be called by any English titles. Without waiting to see if their master had anything else she wanted to tell them, Lao She turned off their headset to outside communications.

It was time for part two of Lao She's game.

The assassin looked down at the Wharton State Forest in amusement. Wouldn't the Justice League be tickled pink to find out that they had hidden Robin away five mere miles from the site of their ambush. They had never left the small state of New Jersey. "Pilot, head for _Huatugou_ in the Qinghai province."

Qinghai was far too west from the Heishe's base for anyone to think of looking for them there. Lao She owned a piece of land in the city that not even Dajie knew about. Say goodbye to the world, Robin, Lao She thought, nobody is going to find you there. A wicked grin split their lips. The bird was theirs, all theirs.

They didn't notice the missile streak up from the ground until it the rotors and exploded. Up became down as Lao She's men yelled, unable to regain control of the vehicle. Time slowed down and Lao She's stomach lurched as the aircraft stopped rising in the air. For a moment they were completely weightless, and the assassin looked back to see Robin's still-unconscious body lift, the bird in true flight. Time snapped back to normal with the breaking of the rotors and they were falling.

* * *

 **17 Hours Ago - New Jersey**

Aqualad was shouting orders as soon as Robin cut off, Artemis beside him as they raced to his location. The archer shouldn't be surprised that somehow something had gone wrong. Rarely did their strictly covert missions ever go according to plan. Gunfire was heard before they descended upon the area. Miss Martian had broken cover and was sending gunmen flying with her telekinesis. Artemis only saw a red and yellow blur and then several gunmen were mysteriously missing their weapons. Superboy literally lept into the fray, his fist smashing into the ground and sending up dust.

Kaldur drew his water bearers, and Artemis plucked a foam arrow from her supply. Where was Robin?

They were close enough to the festival that several civilians froze in shock, but the majority of celebrations continued on unaware. Artemis fired, her shot taking down one of the masked gunmen. Miss Martian had taken out three, Kid Flash four,Superboy three, and her one. If one of Heishe people was a hostage like Robin had reported, then all of the masked gunmen were accounted for. Her eyes flitted over the area as the gunfire stopped. Batman had warned them to stay out of battle at all costs, and they had taken down the gunmen in under ten minutes. This had been way too easy. Where were O'Malley and his men?

Sudden Robin appeared from behind the truck, the lense of his mask wide. Artemis barely had time to take in the blood running down from his temple before the youngest was waving his hands. "Run! It's a tra-"

He never finished the sentence. The truck behind him exploded and Artemis's world disappeared into a haze of white powder.

* * *

 **15 Hours Ago - New Jersey**

Robin woke up with a giggle. His hands flew to his mouth in confusion and he sat up, recalling the last thing that happened to their mission.

"Wakey wakey," A familiar voice said across from him. He looked up to see Artemis grinning at him, Walley's head pillowed in her lap. The rest of the team laid around them. "It's about time you woke up."

"Where are we?" The words bubbled with mirth from Robin's lips as he looked around the tent-like structure. "And why am I so, so. . .?"

Artemis gestured wildly with her hands. "Happy? We got hit with the drug, dude, superesque. You're as high as a kite. Do y'know I can fly right now? Well, I know I can't but I feel like I'm floating fifteen feet off the ground and it's awesome."

Robin looked down at his gauntlets and picked up a rock, squeezing. It felt like he ground it into dust with his fingers, even though he could still see the fully-intact stone in his palm. The sensation sent a rush of adrenaline through his arms and he laughed out loud. "Super strength! This is completely asterous! Wait until I tell Wally! Oh, but he's asleep right now."

Robin gasped in horror and dropped the stone. "I just used a civilian ID while masked!"

Artemis looked up and hummed, a smile on her full lips. "S'kay. I don' mind. There was an officer earlier, police. Stopped the festival for a moment 'n took the bad guys way. Told 'im to put us in here till it wore off. Shh," She held a finger up. "Festival started again, I can hear it."

Robin closed his eyes and cocked his head to the side. Sure enough, he heard delighted laughter and the general cacophony a crowd brought. "Mhmm, nice."

The archers blew air noisily through her mouth and giggled, waving her head excessively as she looked back at Robin. "You got hit when the truck with all the drugs exploded, knocked ya out again. Don' know why the rest of them are still 'sleep. Oh, can't reach Red Tornado either. Probably should be worried 'bout that, but I'm not. S'that bad?"

Robin pinched his eyes shut, trying to recall what had happened before he was knocked out. He had gone to the van and had been extremely surprised to see the back wide open, five masked men with guns sitting at attention and a small girl in the thick of them. Then something had struck his temple and he had fallen to the ground, not unconscious, but head swimming. He had looked up in time to see O'Malley and his goons placing several charges among the crates of drugs. The plain looking leader had smirked at him and motioned for his men to disappear just as Robin flung a batarang at him. The charges had whirled to life and the boy wonder realized what was happening and scrambled to his feet to warn the team. That's where everything went fuzzy again. Robin shrugged, imagining the wave of his shoulders leveling mountains. "Dunno? How long till this wears off?"

Artemis curled her lips up. "Been 'bout two hours, so. . . thirty min probs? Beginning was really hard, couldn't stop giggling and trying to throw myself up in the air. Policeman thought I was goin' crazy. Ya lucky you slept through it." Her eyes shadowed and there was an edge to her voice. "Bastard."

That was hilarious to Robin. "S'rry, Artie." He gasped. "But ya know what's really great? You and Waaally." He pointed to the sleeping speedster on Artemis's lap. "You guys _looove_ each other, but won' admit it. Admit it now! You love him!" He sang.

Artemis's face flushed a deep red. "Do not! Well, maybe, I dunno. I like him sometimes, and then he goes and says somethin' stupid and makes me mad. It's frustrating, ya know? I hate that I like him almost more than I like him! How'd you know?"

"You're," Robin gulped and took a second to finish laughing. "You're letting him use you as a pillow. You don't like people touching you, Artie, but you're letting the _Wall-man_ use you as a pillow!"

Artemis did the mature thing and stuck her tongue out at the kid. "Shut it."

Twenty minutes later, the two teenagers were groaning, no longer riding the happy waves. Artemis made a gagging noise and pushed Kid Flash's head off her body. "If you tell anybody about this bird-boy, I will kill you."

Robin flopped over onto his back, trying not to be sick. "Your secret crush is safe with me." Truthfully, he had seen the signs between his teammate and the archer weeks before Biyalia had even happened. "Wait, did you say earlier that you couldn't get in contact with the Mountain?"

Artemis's head shot up. "Shit! I tried to radio Red but all I heard was static!"

"Robin to Mount Justice! . . . Damn, coms are out."

Connor moaned loudly in his sleep and twitched. "I'm worried that they haven't woken up yet." Artemis admitted in hushed tones.

"Same," The boy wonder tried to get to his feet, but the ground rolled and he fell back on his butt. "Ugh, the drugs haven't worn off quite yet."

He had been expecting a reply, but his observation was met with silence. Artemis's face had gone carefully blank, and her eyes were downcast. "Artie? If this is about what you said about Wally, I promise I really won't tell anybody."

"No, it's. . . it's not that."

"Want to talk about it? What you say now you can blame on being high later."

Apparently that was the wrong thing to say as Artemis's face blanched whiter. "I'm afraid," She admitted. "My family doesn't exactly have a stellar record when it comes to drug use, and what if I. . . Once this wears off, what if I want _more_?" She drew her knees to her chest and her voice dropped to a whisper.

Ah, so that's what this was about. "You're afraid of becoming addicted." She nodded, looking up. Robin gave her a small, sincere smile. "Well, I really don't think you have anything to worry about."

"Why?"

"This drug makes people feel like they have superpowers, right? Fulfills civilians' desires to know what it's like to be like Superman or Wonder Woman. Well, we don't have to wonder about that. You and I, Artemis, we have proven to ourselves that we don't need superpowers to be superheros. We already are."

Artemis took in a deep breath and gave him a shaky grin. "Thanks, Robin. You know, when you're not acting full of yourself or immature, you're actually pretty cool."

Robin gasped in mock insult. "I am not immature!"

"That's what you have issues with, the maturity. Not with me saying that you're full of yourself."

"I am good at what I do. You know it, I know it. Why pretend otherwise?"

The archer laughed, a real laugh and not one fueled by a false sense of elation. Their mirthful bickering ceased when Miss Martian groaned and her eyes snapped open.

"Oh Megan, thank god." Artemis slumped. "I was beginning to think that you guys were never going to wake up."

Miss Martian's groan set off a chain reaction. One by one, Aqualad, Kid Flash, and Superboy awoke. Warning bells started to go off in Robin's mind even as Artemis exclaimed her pleasure at seeing their friends finally awake. Miss Martian hadn't said anything since her eyes opened, and normally she would be running her mouth trying to catch up on her missing time. In fact, her eyes were. . . blank. Emotionless. Unseeing.

"Artemis. . ." Robin began cautiously rising to his feet, the aftermath of the drugs still making him shaky. His four superpowered friends attention suddenly zeroed in on him and his hackles rose. Something was definitely wrong. Then the moment passed and Aqualad sat up, a hand running over his face.

"What happened?" Their leader questioned. Robin analyzed the inflection in his voice, his posture, the way he hadn't blinked. His blonde friend began explaining about the explosion and the drugs, but Robin tuned it out. Wally was sitting still, eyes fixed on Artemis like he was listening intently but his jaw clenched. He should have interrupted by now-he should have interrupted a dozen times actually-but he remained silent. When Robin had awoken he couldn't keep his mouth shut, and Robin wasn't normally a talker. Wally was. They had all been hit with the drug, and Robin had only been knocked unconscious due to his proximity to the explosion.

His friends hadn't been anywhere near the exploding truck, yet they all had passed out. Perhaps it was nothing, but Batman had taught him to always trust his gut instinct. And his gut was telling him that his friends hadn't slept off the drug quite yet.

"So we should be thankful that it's windy tonight, cause most of the drug was blown away before we had the chance to inhale too much and OD, however, a couple of festival people also got high. Officer Monrow has been taking care of that and left us in one of the tents for our safety. Luckily no one but the police know we're here, 'cept for a stall owner who swears Kid Flash stopped by for a donut and ran off." Artemis's voice got pointed towards the end. Huh, how long had he been zoned out for?

"So they just got away?!" Superboy scowled at them. "How could you just let them get away?"

"Dude, chill! Artemis was the only one still walking, _and_ she was high!" Robin was appalled at the venom in his voice and he shot a glance at Miss Martian. The alien should have been the first to reprimand her boyfriend for his temper! Miss Martian glared right back at Robin, clenching and unclenching her fists.

Aqualad stood up, followed by the rest of the superpowered team members. "Where is Officer Monrow now?"

"Outside, still doing damage control. Why?"

The Atlantian made to leave. Robin jumped to his feet and grabbed his shoulder. "I don't think that's a good idea, Kaldur. Why don't you wait a hot sec while we make sure that the drug is out of all of systems before going out? Besides, we have bigger problems to worry about than the crooks that got away; we can't contact Red Tornado or anyone. Comms are down."

Icey blue eyes pierced him with a look that made Robin feel like somebody had stabbed him in the gut with an icicle. "Don't tell me what to do, _Robin_. Are you the leader here? I think not."

Robin let go of his elbow. "Kaldur. . . Aqualad, I'm just saying-"

Aqualad turned his broad chest towards him, towering over the confused bird. "Are you suggesting that you want to lead this mission? Are you forgetting that you were the one who chose _me_ to lead this team?"

Anger flushed through Robin's veins. He may not be tall-yet-but he knew how to assert his presence. Squaring his shoulders, he glared right back. "I'm being _rational_ , Aqualad. I'm not 'trying to take your place' or whatever, I'm trying to assess our priorities! We need to get back in contact with the base! If we don't check in soon, the Justice League is going to run interference, and wouldn't that be just dandy? 'Oh, I'm sorry Batman, we let ourselves get ambushed and then drugged like amateurs'!"

Aqualad's face remained stony during Robin's rant and then he snorted. "Good. Knowing you, if you took charge, you would send us all to our deaths."

Robin was dimly aware of Artemis sucking in a outraged breath and yelling at Aqualad. The words felt like a physical punch to the gut. Blood was pulsing in his ears. ' _Hurting? Try traumatized'_ Oh god, Aqualad knew about his fears and he _agreed_ with them! Unfit to be a leader. . . Too reliant on Batman's training to think for himself, to be the person Dick wanted to be. . . Going to watch everyone he ever loved and cared about die because of some stupid mistake he made. . .

"Robin?" Artemis's fingers ghosted on his shoulder and he flinched. They were alone.

He blinked, hands rising to rub the bridge of his nose but faltering. "I-I'm fine. I'm okay. Di-did they leave?"

Artemis bit her lip and nodded. "Something is like seriously wrong with them. How could Kaldur say that? And how could Wally not defend you? You're his best friend, he's supposed to," She cut her sentence off with an angry growl. Robin heard the underlying message. _I like him because he's a good person, so why isn't he acting like it?_

He needed to put all of his personal feelings aside and focus on their mission. He gasped. "Oh, duh! Computer on my arm here!" Flicking his wrist, he brought up his holoscreen. He could blame that oversight on getting high and possibly having a concussion. "That was not usual behavior for any of them. My guess? The drugs have a longer lasting effect on those who are not completely human. I'm going to see if I can send an email or something to one of the Justice League, let them know we're okay and comms are down. Can't blame the weather, it's a nice night if a little windy. Most likely blocked. We need to get a sample of the drug for further analysis, but first we really need to stop our probably stoned friends from doing something stupid."

Screams erupted from behind the canvas of the tent. Within seconds, the two human heros had rushed outside, Robin's email half-way finished but forgotten. Superboy had a food cart raised above his head and was screaming.

Artemis cursed. "You mean like that?"

* * *

 **I didn't want to post this until I had finished writing chapter 5, but I've been busy and the chapter is still in the works. I will be working on it as much as I can, but be warned, I have two weeks until the end of the semester and then finals. Being hella busy doesn't even cover it. Thanks so much for all the reviews!**


	5. Chapter Five

**3 Hours Ago - Location Unknown**

Jonathan O'Malley considered himself a patient man. He had spent seven years at Harvard, after all, working on his degree only to be kicked out a semester before he graduated. He had waited, planned everything for years. This was going to be his big break, the first stepping stone to his rise to power. He had worked with the triad for years, developing the drug that would finally take the Justice League down. It had gone so perfectly, the production, the trial run, the rumours he had planted.

Until that bastard Lao She had ruined everything.

"What." Jonathan bit out with a sharp exhale through his nose. He needed to regain his patience, his cool bravado. "Do you mean you will no longer fund us?"

If Lex Luthor was at all intimidated by the army of men that stood behind O'Malley, he did not show it. With a smug smirk, the villain tucked his hands under his chin. "I mean you're cut off. Done. Fired. Need any more adjectives or will that explanation suffice?"

"We have been working on this project for over five years now, you can't just-"

"Oh, but I did. Do not presume that you are even remotely powerful enough to tell me what to do." Again, O'Malley searched his eyes, hoping that he would see indications that this was a sick joke. Luther's face was impassive, except for the amused smirk that bent his thin lips. Rage flooded through O'Malley like a flash flood.

"I am so damn close to _everything_ I ever wanted!" The man hissed. His men reacted to his anger, bringing up their weapons in a defensive manner. "So close to the fall of the Justice League, so close to being apart of something bigger! If you won't help me, fine! But watch your back Luthor, cause once I'm done with the heroes, I'm coming for you."

O'Malley twirled around, singling his men to cover his back as he stalked out of the meeting. He heard Luthor's low "oh?" of disbelief and his nails would have bit into the skin of his palms if he hadn't been wearing gloves.

"Alexis," O'Malley snapped. "Do we still have visual of that bastard, Lao She?"

"Yes sir."

If that snake had just killed the boy like they had agreed on, none of this would be happening. That twisted assassin's need to _play_ with its food had ruined everything he had spent so long working on. "Take them out. We're severing our ties with the Heishe."

"Mercy," Luthor said as soon as the door shut behind the last man. His assistant stepped out of the shadows, her lips pursed in quiet disapproval. "Oh come now, O'Malley is not nearly big enough of a player to pose a threat to _me._ The only thing that brat was good for was his mind. The drug he developed is interesting, but not nearly potent enough to bring down the Justice League. It would have been an amusing, oh four hours or so, if he had managed to infect the JLA with it, but Batman would have engineered an antidote quick enough to negate any disastrous effects."

"What about the Light, sir?"

Luthor scoffed. "The Light does not need any of them for our plans to progress. I never intended to bring the Heishe into the fold." Reaching into his pocket, Luthor pulled out a vial filled with white powder. "The real goal was a sample of O'Malley's product. While he is useless, this might prove to be fun to experiment with."

"Respectfully, sir, the Heishe is a much larger organization than the O'Malleys. They might be a problem should they decide to take revenge for your trickery,"

At those words, Luthor minutely shuddered. "The only member of the Heishe to be remotely wary of is Lao She. They are also the reason there was never a chance for them to join the Light. You don't mess with forces that ancient without getting burned. And unlike Savage, Lao She is not mentally stable."

Pocketing the drug once again, Luthor stood. This was the first time in about three hundred years that Lao She had appeared again, and he was not interested in discovering why.

Pity to the poor soul they had decided to torment.

 **Present Time - Wharton State Forest, New Jersey**

 _There was something wrong with this whole mission. He should have listened to Batman about how dangerous it was instead of pressuring his mentor into letting them go. It normally would have never happened, but they just had a talk about how Batman needed to trust Robin more. They couldn't be partners if one of them didn't trust the other to take care of themselves. Robin had promised that nothing would go wrong. They would pull out the moment something felt off._

 _And Robin had sat in the rafters of that warehouse and let the moment pass._

 _There was something weird about the whole setup of the drug exchange. That was his second chance that he stubbornly ignored. Disobeying orders and taking care of things themselves have gotten the team into sticky situations before, but it had also earned them the respect of the league. His team was adaptable, scarily so sometimes, and they always got themselves out of any mission gone wrong and came out victorious. There was absolutely no reason to suspect that things would be different this time._

 _Third chance was the hostage and being hit on the back of the head. He should have radioed the mountain. But he warned his friends and then kissed the dirt as a thank you. Didn't Batman take every opportunity to teach him to expect the unexpected? Especially when he became cocky enough to believe that he and his team were unfailable. Batman is going to be so disappointed in him. Bruce is going to be disappointed._

" _You would have sent us all to our deaths." The snear. The harshness of his voice. Dumbstruck and god, he really was a failure, wasn't he. Superboy was angry, more furious than he had ever seen him. He threw the food cart into the crowd of civilians. Artemis and him jumping in and what the hell were they thinking? Emotionless eyes being turned on them. Their friends weren't attacking civilians anymore, they were attacking them._

 _The crack of Artemis's wrist as Superboy grabbed it too hard. Tugging at his arm, begging him to let her go, to stop this. Superboy let her go, grabbing his wrists instead. The snapping of technology as it crunched under superhuman strength. Kid Flash barreling into him, flinging him into the brick wall of the restroom._

 _The trickle of blood down his forehead. Everything was too fuzzy. Everything hurt. Looking up. The festival was on fire._

Awareness returned to Robin in stages. First it was the cold. It seeped into his bones and froze his cells, turning his conscious into a plane of frost. Then came the fire. It licked at his muscles and tore through his mind. He was floating, riding along waves of darkness.

Something was burning, he realized, and it wasn't him. His nose twitched. It smelled like he was fighting the Joker with Batman, and the clown had just blown up a building. Was he back at the festival they destroyed? Watching tents and amusement rides go up in flame? _Gasoline_. His mind informed him. A gasoline fire. Not the festival then, that fire had been started by Superboy throwing a canvas tent into the bonfire. It had smelled woody, not like chemicals.

The next thing he realized was that he was moving. Being dragged, to be more exact. His arms had been hoisted around someone's shoulders and his feet trailed along the ground. A whimper tore through his throat as he suddenly felt the pain from his injuries return all at once. The person dragging him faltered and then began quickening their pace. A sharp tug on his shoulder drew a gasping scream, and Robin began to struggle. He needed to stop moving. _Now!_

The grip on his wrists was firm, and tiny fingers pressed deeply into the soft flesh of his bare skin. "Stop struggling!" An accented voice commanded. "We need to move to safer ground before the fire spreads! Do you want to die, _xiao hong niao?_ "

Chinese, Robin dimly recognized the foreign tongue. The tones had been uttered harshly, but he had studied the language a little in his quest to master the world's most spoken languages. Xiao hong nia0. . . little red bird, if he had heard correctly. A prick of deja vu hit him with the voice. There was something achingly familiar about it, but he couldn't put his finger on it.

Robin's first attempt at speaking ended up in coughs. "Gon-gonna," He tried to warn as his stomach twisted. He got no farther as his intestines rebelled and he started to retch. The pressure on his wrists vanished and he landed on the ground with a jarring thud, screaming even as he vomited.

"I just changed these clothes!" A disgusted voice said from above his head. Robin weakly craned his neck, finally getting a good look at the person who had been carrying him. It was a child, who looked to be maybe ten years old; definitely younger than him. They had short black hair that fell just passed their ears and distinctive Asian features. They were a little taller than Robin, but much, much skinnier.

His eyes widened. "You," Robin coughed. "You're the hostage!" The person he had seen in the van just before his head got whacked. If he had been looking closer, he would have seen a flicker of surprise on the person's face before their lips twitched into a quick smile.

"Yes, yes! Move now, talk later!" With that, the person grabbed his arm-the one attached to his good shoulder, thank god-and hauled him back to his feet. Smoke began to hang in the air like fog and the screeches of panicked animals accompanies their footsteps. They made good time, though Robin could feel the heat on his back, hear the snapping of the fire as it consumed the forest, and see orange cast that clung to the smoke. _I should tell them to head downhill of the fire_ , Robin coughed. The smoke burned his lungs and made his eyes water like Alfred was cutting an onion. All he needed right now was lung damage on top of his bruised ribs, on top of his concussion and memory problems (speaking of which, how did he get from being alone in a cave to escaping a forest fire with the hostage he had saved from the drug bust?). He was also pretty sure infection was setting into the stab wound on his shoulder. Blood trickled into his mouth from where he bit through his lip.

All in all, he felt like shit.

Robin stumbled, but was quickly pulled back up by the mysterious hostage. He either had more energy than he realized-enough to run through a burning forest whilst wanting nothing more than to pop a few painkillers and take a nap-or his rescuer was much stronger than their stature implied. Thinking back to the secure grip they had on his wrists earlier, Robin decided on the later. He slipped again as their direction headed down a steep hill. Strong and smart. At the bottom, Robin's body commanded they take a break as his legs gave out on him.

"We'll be safe here for now, I think." His rescuer muttered as they helped Robin sit on the forest ground. "Fire doesn't travel downhill. You okay, xiao niao?"

"Why do you keep calling me that?"

"You are Robin, are you not?" The boy nodded. "Robins are red, red bird."

He coughed hard, trying to expel all the smoke he inhaled. "I meant why do you keep calling me small?"

"I am taller than you." The figure sat down besides him and gave him a baleful look. "You are a funny bird. I would be demanding to know what was going on, yet you ask me why I call you small."

Robin waved his good hand. "It's a coping mechanism. But if you want to fill me in on all my blank spots, feel free. Might as well do something while we wait for our rescue." He had a feeling that would be hard though; he had more blank spots than memory.

The person beside him cocked their head. "You a certain on a rescue, why?"

Robin gave them a confident smirk, more confident than he felt inside. Batman better be looking for him by now, but hopefully he knew where to look. More than anything, even a nap, Robin wanted to feel his guardian's arms wrap around him and hear Bruce whisper that everything would be okay. Bruce would find him, no matter where he was. Right? "I have a stubborn mentor."

His rescuer smiled at that. "Good. So long story short in an incredibly simplified version is that I was captured by the Heishe, saved by your team, but captured by Lao She the same time they captured you. I woke up to find myself alone in a tunnel, but was knocked out again when it started shaking. When I woke up after that, I the two of us were in a helicopter being taken somewhere by the Heishe." There was a bitter sneer every time they said the name of the triad. "I'm not quite sure what happened after that, but I think that something hit us and knocked us out of the air. We survived the crash, but this fire was caused by the helicopter exploding shortly after I pulled you out of the wreckage."

Robin processed the explanation, his eyes searching for answers in the open eyes of his so-called 'savior'. It made sense, he supposed, but his gut screamed that something was very wrong about the scenario. If he had survived a helicopter crash, shouldn't he be more injured than he was before he woke up in the burning forest? "You know I'm called Robin, but I don't know your name."

The person gave him a small smile. "You can call me BaiLi." A sharp tooth glinted in the light of the fire-

 _The smirk of the small, child-like person, blood splattered across the teeth and cheeks was the most bone-chilling thing he had ever seen. "There is no hostage!" He exclaimed to Artemis as the two of them hid from a rampaging Aqualad. "This whole thing is a set up-"_

The flashback was quicker than a blink. A chill ran down Robin's back despite the heat. He remembered now, everything. He remembered the drugs, his teammates destroying the festival as they attacked each other, completely lost in a need to break anything they could get their hands on. He remembered trying to corral them with Artemis, but the two of them had only been able to hold them off for so long. They had regrouped back at the vans, planning on rescuing the hostage and then contacting the League. Before they could get far, the child had told them of an antidote their captives had kept on hand in case the messy drug got loose and infected them. Robin and Artemis had taken one look at a furious M'gann, hovering a safe distance from the fire, throwing a thrashing Aqualad around with her mind and decided it was worth the risk, despite their injuries.

He remembered being pinned down by the grinning child, antidote to the drug in one hand as they had driven a small blade down into his shoulder. Slowly. The dark eyes in front of him took in the tensing of his body and in an instant the innocent face transformed into something darker.

Lao She.

His body whined as he jumped back to his feet, stumbling a few feet away from the assassin. A dry sob tore through his chest even as his head pounded fiercely. He hadn't been rescued, he had literally been flipped from the frying pan and into the fire.

" _ROBIN!"_

The harsh, panicked cry of his father was enough to jerk his head to the side, taking his eyes off the silent assassin for a moment. That was all it took. He heard it more than felt it; the ripping of his skin. His body was pushed back by the momentum and he coughed, blood gurgling to his lips.

" _Zai jian, wo de xiao hong niao,_ " The dark eyes, just barely above his own, blinked. When they opened, they were clear with a slitted pupil. The eyes of a snake.

Lao She slid the knife out of his chest and the darkness welcomed him.

* * *

 **Sorry this chapter is so short! It's been a while so I wanted to get something out, and I wanted to celebrate my last day of classes. Only finals to worry about now. . . woo. Only one more chapter folks, then probably an epilogue. Next chapter will heavily feature daddybats and the team. It will also be the comfort half of the hurt/comfort genre. Thanks so much to all of you who have reviewed! As soon as I'm no longer stressing about passing my classes, I will reply to all of my non-guest reviewers.**

 **Please review! I seriously love reviews more than I love bacon.**

 **Translation of the last sentence in Chinese is "Goodbye, my little red bird."**

 **Edit 12/10/16 - LOL, thank you so much WayTooHappy for pointing out that I had my Chinese wrong this entire time! I meant niao, not nian. Nian means year, niao means bird. This is embarrassing. . .**


	6. Chapter Six

(A/N) Warning: Brief mention of nudity in this chapter

* * *

 **Two Hours Ago - Mount Justice**

Wally watched Kaldur, M'gann, and Conner suit up as he ground his teeth together in frustration. It had been a couple of hours since Superman had tried to send him and Aqualad home to recuperate from their injuries. Unbeknownst to the Kryptonian, they had taken the zeta tubes back almost immediately after they left. As Artemis had said, this mission was their fault. Therefore, their mistake to correct. Like hell they were going to sit still and let the League find Robin on their own.

Or, some of them would. Wally glanced down at his broken ankle and cursed the fact that his healing abilities weren't as fast as his uncle's. Artemis's hand touched his arm, startling him out of his pity party. She gave him a small, knowing smile, and he fought down the urge to blush. At that moment, the Speedster held the archer in the highest regards. This wonderful, beautiful girl besides him was so freaking strong. She and Robin had managed to stop the team from seriously harming any civilians and had held her own against four superpowered beings, while searching for a way to cure them. Seriously, the admiration he had for her. . . Artemis was just as frustrated as he was about not being able to head out with the rest of the team to look for Robin.

The reasons for her injuries, though . . . No. No more guilt.

"M'gann, ready the bioship. We'll be down momentarily, but our exit must be quick. BC and Red Tornado must not know what we are planning or else they will surely try to stop us." Aqualad grimaced as he pulled his tank down over his injured ribs.

" _We'll be gone before they even know the hanger doors have been opened."_ Miss M replied telepathically. She nodded and headed out of the med bay.

"We're on comms." Artemis touched the device in her ear before Aqualad could ask. "Just. . . be careful out there okay? And stay traught."

Superboy and Aqualad nodded.

"Bring him home." Wally added. _Please_. There was so much he had to say to his best friend, so much he had to apologize for.

"We won't come back without him." Superboy promised.

The speedster reached out and wrapped his fingers around Artemis's wrist as the two boys left the medical bay, calming his anxiety with the steady thrum of her pulse. There was no more denying how he felt about her. A minute passed before Aqualad's voice picked up in his ear piece.

"We are in the bioship preparing for departure. Destination: New Jersey. Mission: finding Robin."

Artemis twisted her wrist so that her palm was in Wally's. Their fingers interlocked. "Good luck."

* * *

 **Thirty Minutes Ago - The Batwing**

Batman and Superman were almost to New Jersey when Robin's tracking signal began beeping after almost 24 hours of silence. His heart in his throat, Bruce had increased the speed, pushing his plane faster than he had ever flown before. The Man of Steel, flying next to the plane, had caught up with him easily. He was so damn close, only fifty miles out.

That's when they saw the smoke. Curling in the air like a serpent, it hung heavy and dark. Foreboding.

"Batman," Superman's horribly conflicted voice rang through his earpiece. Gloved fingers tightened around the wheel of the plane. _Don't you dare, Clark. Don't you fucking dare._ "I need to go put out the fire. Nearly the whole forest is burning. I can hear campers screaming, B."

"Fine," He snarled, eyes never leaving the blinking dot that was gradually coming closer. The Kryptonian pulled away and was lost in a haze of smoke. Thirty miles away. Ten. He was going to find Robin and bring him home. His boy was going to be fine, a little shaken up sure, but fine. He couldn't afford to think otherwise. A snarling darkness curled up in his bones at the thought that he wouldn't get there in time. When Robin's tracking signal was less than a mile away, Batman transferred the screen from the Batwing to his own personal device. He ignored the fact that the tracker had never once moved since it reappeared. Robin never sat still; he was always bouncing or doing something with his hands. The plane stopped above an abandoned shack-like structure with the surrounding area caved in. He dropped from the plane, his cape billowing out to slow his descent.

If he wasn't so good at hiding his emotions, Batman would have moaned in frustration as he bent down to pick up Robin's R emblem from the ground. His boy had been here, but he was too late. Robin was gone. A piece of paper fluttered from between his fingers and he caught it with his other hand. The scrawl on the note was neat, every letter written with extreme precision. There was no personality behind the ink, no clue to the mindset behind the assassin.

' _What a pretty bird, you have.'_ The note started out. Batman breathed in deeply, resisting the urge to crumple up the note then and there. ' _I am going to borrow him for a bit, I'm sure you don't mind. You'll get him back, though whether he'll be alive or dead is completely up to you. I am going to kill three more people. Shang Jian, JianHua Feng, and TianLing Stevens. You may be wondering why I am telling you this, but I'm sure you'll figure that out detective. You may place them under your protection, if you wish, and stop me from killing them. However, with each death I will leave a clue to the location of your missing bird._

' _It's your choice, Mr. Batman. Save the three and let your protégé die or sacrifice them to save this adorable boy.'_

It took him a minute to come to terms with the message of the note. That sick, twisted little- This was all a game to the assassin. The Justice League didn't know much about the legend of Lao She, other than every couple hundred years someone would take up the mantle and begin killing. Rumor was that it was the same person, but that would mean they were _thousands_ of years old. As old as Vandal Savage, at least. When the underground started murmuring that someone within the Heishe network had picked up that title, Batman marked it off as another pretender. The kills said to belong to the new Lao She didn't match up with the M.O. of the Lao Shes of the past. They were too quick, too painless.

This however, did.

The stories of the past alluded to one thing. While Lao She loved to shed blood, breaking a person was what they got true pleasure from.

So what did he do now?

He needed his ward back, more than he needed air or water. If he let those people die, Dick would never forgive him. Hell, he wouldn't forgive himself. Either option would mean the end of Batman. So, option three: save the people and save Dick. Taking another deep breath, Batman pocketed the note and Robin's 'R' patch. Right now he needed to be the hardened detective, not the worried father. He was on his way back to his aircraft when he felt another presence brush up against his mind.

It was not the firm mind of Martian Manhunter, who would hover at the edge of his conscious like knocking on a door before entering. It was timid, yet courageous. Must be the girl, Dick's friend. With tiring patience, he let her in.

" _Batman, sir?"_ She started out rusty, forming a question instead of an introduction. " _Aqualad and I are on our way to your location."_

" _Explain."_

" _We were on our way to the warehouse to see if we could gather any clues to Robin's whereabouts-"_ Batman snorted to himself. He had combed that place over and over, searching and found nothing. " _When we saw the fire. We were flying over it when I sensed Robin's presence below."_

" _What?"_ His boy was still here- still nearby? Horror dropped like a lead-weight into the pit of his stomach. In the forest that was _currently burning?_

Aqualad's voice took over. " _I sent Superboy down to find him, as we cannot get too close to flames. Miss Martian and I were going to see if there was anything we could do to help Superman put out the flames when she sensed that you were nearby. If you will allow us, we would like to take you as close to Robin's last known location as we can."_

Batman had never been more grateful for the formation of this team.

* * *

 **Forty Minutes Ago - Wharton State Park, New Jersey**

The instant the copter started falling out of the sky, Lao She was out of their seat. In a fluid movement, they plucked a knife from their pocket and slashed Robin out of his bindings. The pilot of the bird reached out to them, his face stricken, but Lao She swatted it away, choosing to grab a pack off the floor instead. There was only seconds left before they hit the ground. Robin in one hand, pack in the other, the assassin kicked the door to the helicopter open and jumped.

The sound of tearing clothes was muffled by the dropping aircraft. Flesh turned into scales and limbs vanished into a rope-like body. The snake wrapped itself tightly around the unconscious boy, now only a hundred feet above the forest floor and plummeting fast. The snake hissed as they hit the treeline; branches scraping at the scales and biting into the soft flesh underneath. The pair hit the ground with a thud. A short distance away, the helicopter crashed nose first and exploded. The blast sent the snake barreling into the trunk of a tree, but even through the pain it did not loosen its protective embrace around the boy.

Minutes passed as the snake regained its breath. It barely remembered to untangle itself from the boy so he too could breathe. It withered in agony as hot blood seeped from its many wounds. Finally, the snake heaved and laid still.

A very human groan sounded as the giant body of the snake shrunk and the black scales disappeared into skin. Lao She gave themself another minute to recover and listened to the sizzling noise of their injuries stitching themselves back together. The forest glowed brighter as a spark from the helicopter flew and landed on the flammable undergrowth. With a curse, Lao She pushed to their feet and opened the pack they had pulled from the copter. Inside was a second set of clothes, which they gladly changed into.

After getting dressed, the assassin limped over to the silent boy. Robin looked no worse for wear, though his face was pinched even in sleep. Lao She grabbed his arms and drapped him over their back, Robin's feet dragging through the dirt. Might not have been a good idea to take his boots, Lao She thought with a grimace, noticing blood and puncture wounds on the sole of one of Robin's feet.

They could still salvage this shit-uation. (Heh, shitty situation, Lao She smirked at their internal pun.) All they needed to do was get out of this forest before they burned to death or died of smoke inhalation. Then they could contact Dajie and arrange for a pickup - that would mean that Lao She would have to forgo their own plans with the child and go along with whatever their boss had in mind, but that was preferable to their current problem.

The boy let out a low moan and Lao She quickened their pace. Hopefully they would get out of the state before the boy woke up. They hoisted the bird up further, hoping to get his feet out of the dirt so that the friction wouldn't slow them down.

They started when Robin screamed in response. The boy began kicking and trying to tug his arms out of Lao She's firm grip. _Damn, the smoke must have woke him up._ "Stop struggling!" Lao She ordered as they tightened their hold on the boy's wrists. There was no escape from their hold once the assassin caught something, but his wriggling was slowing them down. "We must move to safer ground before the fire spreads! Do you want to die, xiao hong niao?"

To their relief, the boy quieted his movements. He coughed and Lao She's mind jumped to damage caused by smoke. They were planning on killing him, but it wouldn't be nearly as fun if Robin couldn't scream.

"Gon-" The boy stuttered. Oh good, just a chest injury. "Gonna. . ." He got no further before he was retching all over the shapeshifter. Surprise made them drop the boy in disgust.

"I just changed these clothes!" They cried out. This was their last spare set! The boy whimpered and looked up. Lao She stared at his mask and regretted not taking that too. They thought they would have more time with the boy; it was a good thing they already got a DNA sample. Still, it would have been nice to see the horror flood into his eyes as he realized that he was stranded with the very person who had taken him.

"You!" Ah yes, here it comes. "You're the hostage!"

What? Oh. _Oh._ He did not remember them! The assassin wanted to cackle in glee. "Yes yes! Move now, talk later!" The assassin changed their speech pattern a tad to lengthen the time before the child recognized them. Lao She hauled Robin back onto his feet, taking the side of his injured foot. The two stumbled through the forest for fifteen minutes before Lao She spotted a steep hill. Perfect, it would work for now. They helped him slide down the gritty surface. As soon as they hit the bottom, Robin's legs buckled underneath him. Fine, they could rest a moment.

They boy amused them with his silly questions, though internally the assassin was debating the merits of knocking the boy unconscious once more in order to get them out of the woods. Probably not the best idea. His head would not take kindly to another whack and they had no more drugs.

They boy said something that caught their interest. "You are certain of a rescue, why?" They asked, concealing their dread.

Robin gave them a cocky grin. "I have a stubborn mentor."

Hm, certainly true. They had been walking on the earth for more years than they could recall, but never once had the assassin met someone like the Batman. The human vigilante put them on edge, a feeling they weren't used to. It was one of the reasons why they wanted to break his spirit. Robin was looking at them expectantly, asking for the story behind their romp in the woods without words. Lao She quickly spun a lie, wincing as it came out choppy. Maybe it would be enough to satisfy the hero-in-training.

Apparently not. Robin's mouth twisted down in doubt. Then he surprised the old snake again, asking for their name.

Eh, why not? Lao She was going to kill him anyway. "You can call me BaiLi." The assassin answered truthfully, giving him their version of a reassuring smile.

That was the wrong thing to do. Robin's mouth opened slightly and he jumped to his feet with a gasp. His body language screamed defensive. Lao She stayed crouched low to the ground, though their stance shifted, ready to spring at a moment's notice. Robin remembered them, it seemed. Keeping calm, Lao She surveyed their options. No way was he going to come with them willingly now. Lao She may not be able to see his eyes, but they knew they were unfocused with the effects of a concussion. Was it worth the risk?

Or, none of the above. A mighty roar of " _ROBIN!_ " sounded from nearby. In a split second decision, Lao She pulled another knife from a seam in their clothes and jumped towards Robin. Their other hand wrapped around Robin's back and pulled him close, almost like a hug if they didn't use the motion to push the blade through his chest. If he was found quickly and received immediate medical attention, he had about a 50/50 chance of surviving this.

"Zaijian, wo de xiao hong niao." Lao She whispered reverently, cradling his body as Robin went limp. If he died, Lao She accomplished their original goal; though not as showy as they would have liked. If he survived, he lived to play with them another day. It was a win-win to the assassin.

Lao She sensed another presence nearby before they heard the cracking of a branch under heavy boots. They released their loving caress of the boy and stood up to meet the eyes of another black haired teenager. Superboy.

"Robin?" The Kryptonian clone half-whispered, his face stuck between fury and terror. "What did you do to him?"

Lao She lifted the bloody knife so it glinted in the light of the fire. Chuckling as Superboy's eyes flitted to the collapsed boy and realization dawned on his face, Lao She licked the blood with a forked tongue. Mm, sweet.

With a wordless scream of pure rage, Superboy lept at the assassin, his fist raised. Lao She ducked under his swing. Part of them wanted to fight clone and taste his savory blood, but logic ruled that out. The clone packed a powerful punch, but his movements were still slow. His fist sunk into the dirt and leaves of the forest floor, sending faint vibrations through the earth. In the second that his back was turned, Lao She shifted. Bones creaked as their body compacted, and a tiny snake slithered out of the pile of clothes the assassin once wore. In a burst of speed, the snake vanished into the roots of a nearby tree.

"What?" They heard the growled confusion of the clone.

"Superboy, what's going-" Lao She could imagine the Dark Knight rushing in the direction Superboy's scream had come from. "Robin."

Batman had dropped his signature growl in favor of a heartbroken whimper. Pleased, Lao She abandoned their lurking and nosed through the dirt, coming out on the other side of the tree. The mild rush they had gotten from Batman's misery did not temper out the rage they felt at having their plans turned on its head. There was only one person who possibly could have known their location and what helicopter they had been flying in.

Jonathan O'Malley.

Unnoticed by the two grieving men, Lao She fled into the forest; just another snake fleeing from the raging fire.

* * *

 **Two Minutes Ago - Wharton State Forest, New Jersey**

Miss Martian brought the bioship to a stop, a safe distance from the flaming trees. "This is as close as I can get you to Robin's location." She said with an apology in her voice.

"It is enough." Batman acknowledged and dropped out of the hole that formed in the ship. His cape fluttered out, slowing his descent and he landed. The man switched his lenses to infrared and did a 360, searching for his child. His sensors picked up nothing. Close, but not close enough. Seconds before he left, the Martian girl said she could still feel his son's mind, but it was unfocused and she could not patch a mind-link through.

" _Robin!_ " Batman called out, praying that his son was awake and could hear and respond. He ached to hear his voice again.

Instead, he heard Superboy roar.

In that moment, he felt faster than the Flash as he raced towards that enraged cry. He dodged past the low-hanging branches of a tree and saw the clone. Superboy was looking around wildly, his face a mixture of anger and panic.

"Superboy, what's going-" Batman's eyes slid past the teenager and locked onto the crumpled figure of his son. The white lenses of Robin's mask had closed to slits and there was blood smeared all over his cheeks and nose. His cape covered most of his torso, but his hands and feet were impossibly pale. He didn't look like he was breathing.

"Robin." He mouthed his son's name in a prayer. In an instant, he was kneeling by the boy's side. One hand pressed underneath Robin's jaw as he bent down. There was a weak pulse, but Robin wasn't breathing. Oh god, oh god no.

"Tell the Martian to bring the ship to this location." Batman ground out as he started to prep his son's body for rescue breathing. His hand pressed down on Robin's chest, and he froze when it _squelched_. Bright crimson blood coated his gloves. Stab wound. Upper chest.

No. No no no no.

"Now!"

* * *

 **Present Time - Mount Justice**

Neither Wally and Artemis had said a single word since the departure of the rest of their team. Black Canary and Red Tornado had rushed in seconds after the bioship left the mountain, each demanding explanations. Wally lifted his forlorn eyes to meet their gazes and the one-sided conversation dropped. The two members of the Justice League had chosen to sit in the medbay to wait with them.

Hours had passed in pensive silence.

The speedster and the archer both jumped as Kaldur's voice crackled through on their ear comms. "KF, get Black Canary and Red Tornado to prepare the medbay for immediate surgery and a blood transfusion."

The Atlantean's voice was rushed and grim. Wally felt his heart plummet right into the heart of the mountain. The mentioned members of the JSA noticed the two teenagers tense up and stood.

"Did you find him?" Artemis croaked. "Is he okay?"

A moment passed. "Prepare the medbay."

Wally wanted to cry.

* * *

 **Okay, so not the final chapter folks! I had to split this one up because of length, but next chapter will be the last of this story. Thanks so much for reading! I hope you enjoyed this as much as I enjoyed writing. I already have my next YJ fic in the works. It's going to be set during season two, with Dick as my main focus. Ofc it's going to be another shameless DG whump story (I can't seem to write anything else). But it's also going to be exploring some of the scenes I really wish were in S2. I also have a sequel planned for this story, but it's going to take me a while to write.**

 **I also have a tumblr if you guys want to follow me! (I have nothing against self-promotion.) I post about the DCU (the batfam mostly) and Young Justice. It's _gay-son-ofgotham_ I also have story requests open at the moment. Check out my profile for rules and regulations.**

 **Please review! It means so much to me.**

 **Edit 1-7-17: A guest reviewer informed me of a mistake in Bruce's emergency medical treatment, and it has been fixed.**


	7. Chapter Seven

**Present Time - Happy Harbor**

Megan Morse sighed gloomily as she browsed the blouses on sale. Conner was to her right, arms folded and looking as depressed as she felt.

It had been 48 hours since they had practically crashed the bioship into the mountain. Batman had been running down the halls, Robin cradled in his arms, before M'gann had even brought her ship to a full stop. Her fingers tightened around the purple fabric of a shirt as she remembered the shouting, the rushed movements, and all the tubes and equipment in Robin's chest.

Doctor Mid-nite and a lovely lady named Doctor Thompkins had been rushed in to help with the surgery. Artemis's bed had been wheeled out by Red Tornado as the doctors had worked to save Robin's life. They were in there for hours.

Robin was still in critical condition.

It had been Batman's brooding that sent Megan out into the city today. His emotions, usually so carefully hidden, had been all over the place. It had gotten to be too much for the empath. Which is why she was here with her boyfriend on a 'date'. Everyone else-Batman, Superman, the Flashes, Wonder Woman, pretty much the entire Justice League-was sitting in the living room in the mountain, waiting for Robin's condition to change. Whether it would be for better or for worse was still up in the air.

"Like that one, deary?" An elderly hispanic woman with a kind smile asked. Megan dropped the shirt like it was on fire.

She blushed and almost fell over trying to pick up the fallen article of clothing. "It's cute." She agreed. Why was she even looking at clothes? She could morph into anything she wanted. Still, the color would compliment Artemis's eyes nicely. With another smile at the watching woman, Megan moved to buy the shirt.

* * *

 **Present Time - Mount Justice**

 _Beep._

Hands clasped around his ward's tiny, limp fingers, Bruce Wayne stared at the wall, eyes seeing nothing.

 _Beep._

The heart monitor was the only thing that mattered right now. So long as it kept beeping, Bruce would be fine. Too many times he had seen Dick flatline. Once was enough to guarantee him nightmares for months. Twice nearly sent him into a full-blown panic attack. Three times had found him being pushed gently back by Dinah Lance as his entire world crumbled.

 _Beep._

Brain had been starved of oxygen, they had told him. Copious blood loss. Shock. Trauma to limbs and internal organs. Knife had nicked a lung. Next 24 hours were critical. 30 hours had rolled around and there had been no change. There was a chance he may never wake up, they had told him.

 _Beep._

Bullshit.

 _Beep._

They didn't know Dick, if they thought there was any chance in hell that his ward wouldn't come back to them. Wouldn't come back to Bruce.

 _Beep._

Dick's foot was wrapped tightly in clean, white gauze. Leslie had been the one to notice that there was an injury there, and had proceeded to pull shards of broken bones from the sole of Dick's foot. Bones that Barry had identified as belonging to a Robin. Bruce's hands tightened around Dick's. Take a deep breath. Listen to the steady pulse of the heart monitor. He relaxed and watched the color return to his ward's fingers. Did Leslie ever watch in awe at something that was supposed to be so normal? Like there being enough blood in a person's body that fingers regained their pinkish hue a moment after they had been squeezed?

 _Beep._

He thought of the small boy that had come to the manor nearly five years ago. The small boy, though still in shock over his parents' death, had tried to make Bruce laugh. Who had filled his house with life and emotions after years of vacancy.

 _Beep._

He was alone in the room with Dick. Dr. Thompkins was hovering outside, no doubt, as she has been since the Flash had rushed her to the mountain. Waiting, like all of them, for something to change.

 _Beep._

Hot anger still churned whenever Bruce thought of the maniac who did this. Nobody had expected the infamous assassin Lao She to be a goddamn _child_. He had barely kept it together when Artemis had recalled how Lao She had laughed as they pinned Dick down and driven a knife through his shoulder. When Superboy admitted he knew Dick had been seriously injured by the assassin because he watched the child _lick_ Dick's blood off the blade, Bruce's vision had gone red.

The assassin had disappeared, leaving not a single trace. Half a day later, Green Arrow had called the mountain to inform them that O'Malley and his men had been found. Brutally slaughtered.

Bruce was still deep in thought when the rhythm of the heart monitor began to change.

He was cold.

" _Dick? That's it son, open your eyes."_

A black snake was curled around his feet, freezing him in place. Each tiny scale against his bare feet felt like razors, grating against his skin until there was nothing but blood. He blinked. He was alone, and stone walls were pressing against his chest until he felt his bones snap. He blinked. Flames danced on his arms, eating him alive. He felt no pain, no warmth, only cold. He blinked again. Sharp stones dug into his back as he laid on a forest floor, looking up at the moon.

" _Shh, chum. You're okay now, you're safe. Please open your eyes."_

No, please no. He didn't want to wake up in a place he didn't know. All alone, or with people he didn't recognize. Let him go home, please let him wake up at home. The moon above him turned glassy and clear, and a slitted pupil warped into the middle. Lao She stood above him and grinned.

Bruce. He wanted Bruce.

" _That's right Dickie, I'm right here. You're safe now, I promise."_

There was a weight on his forehead. It was hot and comforting, and so much better than the cold that held him down. He pressed into it and let out a soft whine. The heavy hand stroked his hair and murmured soft things that he didn't understand. Bruce, it had to be Bruce. He was safe now, he had to be, if Bruce was here. Bruce meant safety.

With a sigh, Dick let go and fell asleep.

"Wally, you are wrong, so wrong."

"Look Artemis, I have nothing against you, but you would definitely be the first to die in zombie apocalypse."

"You're just saying that because I'm a girl!"

"What? No! Argh! _Shit_ , quit throwing things at me! M'gann! Not you too!"

"I have to agree with Artemis on this one, KF."

"Kaldur! You're supposed to be on my side!"

"There are no sides to this argument, Wally. Though I am afraid if you're pitching the argument in the direction that Artemis would be the first one to die because she has no powers, then you would have to agree that Robin would be quick to follow."

"No! I would protect him!"

"So you wouldn't protect me? Thanks a bunch, jackass."

"That is _so_ not what I meant. Conner, back me up here!"

"Nah, it's much more fun watching you dig yourself further into a hole."

Dick had to stifle a snort. He had pushed himself into consciousness only moments before because of the raised tones of his teammates. Really? They were doing the classic 'zombie apocalypse' argument? And it sounded like they were all really into it too. Oh well, at least it wasn't 'pirates versus ninjas'.

It took a second for him to remember how to move his body, and Dick opened his eyes into slits. The brightness of the room around him stung, but he quickly adjusted.

His team was circled around Artemis's bed, just to the right of his own. Wally was sitting in a chair right next to her bed. Even though they were glaring heatedly at each other, Dick noted that Wally was still sitting closer than he would any other day. His lips twitched up at that. The archer was looking good for someone who was still confined to bed-rest. Dick's eyes flitted over her injuries with a small pang of sorrow.

If only he had been faster, had been more aware of his surroundings during that fight. . . He could have prevented so many of her injuries.

Kaldur'ahm was sitting at the foot of Artemis's bed, arms crossed over his torso as he looked deep in thought. "If I chose to stay on land with all of you, there is a high chance that I would be the first to die. However, I highly doubt that zombies would be able to survive in Atlantis."

"But what if you got infected and then went back to Atlantis?" M'gann pointed out. "Then you would infect all of your people."

"How is the virus spread?" Conner interrupted. "Is it like the flu? Or do you have to be bitten to be infected?"

Dick's mind wandered off as Artemis started to tell them they were putting too much thought into it. ("Guys, there's not going to be an actual apocalypse. It's all hypothetical." "You never know, Artie, you never know. Discussions like this could be what saves our lives one day.") His eyes drifted upwards to several bags connected to the IV in his arm. Liquids and pain meds probably.

 _His lips parted slightly, a breath escaping with a barely audible squeak. All he could feel was the thin piece of metal, and how it parted his muscles like butter. Lao She's arm held him in place, like the child was giving him a warm hug. There was hot breath on his ear as the assassin muttered something with loving tones. He couldn't hear the words, but the affectionate way the assassin said them made his chest thud weakly in terror._

 _He tried to breathe around the knife, but his body refused to listen. Lao She's dark eyes vanished as they blinked, and the cold eyes of a snake peered at him. They held him like they loved him, but there was indifference in those eyes._

 _His body moved slightly with the knife, as if his chest didn't want it to leave. The metal, so cold, was gone and Dick was on fire._

The sudden memory left Dick gasping for air, agony brewing in his chest. Someone was holding his hand, and he felt M'gann in his mind, urging him to take deep breaths. He was at the mountain, not with Lao She.

Not in a cave.

Not in a burning forest.

The mountain. With his team; his friends. Safe.

. . .

Holy _fuck_ , he had been stabbed. _Twice._

"Robin, how are you feeling?" M'gann asked once he had calmed down. Dick raised his eyebrows at her and groaned. "Right, dumb question. Sorry."

"Bro, it's so sweet to see you awake." Wally was up on a pair of crutches, hobbling towards his bed. "It only took you like a week."

Conner had risen from his chair and was now standing with his arms crossed. He sent Dick a pointed look, but there was no heat in it. "Don't you dare even think of doing that to us again, shortstack."

Shortstack? "N't planning on it." Dick slurred. Wow, it was hard to speak. He cleared his throat and tried to sit up, only to be pushed back by M'gann's gentle hands. Right, he'd been stabbed; not the best idea.

"I felt you start to panic," The Martian informed him. "Kaldur went to fetch Batman, he should be here soon."

Bruce. Good. God, he wanted to see Bruce.

"It's about time you woke up!" Artemis waved her hands like she was frustrated, but Dick could hear the relief in her voice. "Do you know how boring it is to be on bed rest and have the only other person in the room unconscious? Felt like you were ignoring me."

Dick cracked a smile, but didn't dare try to laugh. Everything was starting to hurt again and his head was swimming. He was tired and his eyelids felt heavy.

Had to stay awake until he saw Bruce. With difficulty, Dick opened his eyes again and found himself staring into anxious green eyes.

"Too close, Wally." Dick yawned.

"Just checking that everything is okay in that bruised noggin of yours." Dude-speak for 'You scared me and I want to make sure everything is okay'.

"Still, probably don't want to be that close. Probably haven't brushed my teeth in a while."

Wally let out a breezy chuckle that sounded like a suppressed sob. The speedster laid a hand on his uninjured shoulder and gave it a squeeze before backing off a foot.

Dick heard the quiet squish of a cape before he saw Batman enter the room, Kaldur close behind him. He felt tension he didn't even know he was holding leave his body at the imposing sight of his father-figure. Lense-covered eyes zeroed in on him and Dick gave Bruce a reassuring smirk. He could tell his guardian wanted to rush to his side, but held back.

Batman looked over at Artemis. "A moment, please."

Dick's eyes widened. Woah, Batman never said please, like _ever._

The archer shrugged. "Sure. Wheel me away, boys."

Conner and Kaldur rolled their eyes, but went to either side of Artemis's hospital bed and began rolling it out of the medbay. M'gann floated out after them, but not before saying goodbye to Robin. Wally looked even more hesitant, but one glare from Batman was enough to send him swinging towards the exit with his crutches.

"Wait," Dick called out just as Kaldur and Conner were halfway through the doorway with Artemis's bed. "In the event of a zombie apocalypse, Wally would be the first to die. His metabolism wouldn't be able to handle not having enough food."

Wally gave him a scandalized look. "Bro," He layered the word with betrayal.

Artemis threw her head back and laughed.

Seconds later, it was only Dick and Batman in the room. His mentor did not move.

"Alfred came and visited while you were asleep." Batman said after a beat. "We're moving you back to the manor tomorrow. Leslie was hoping that the presence of your friends nearby would encourage you to wake up faster."

Dick eyed his mentor and the space between them. Space that was quickly starting to feel like football fields away, instead of a couple of yards. Was Batman. . . _nervous_? Exhaustion was starting to set into his bones again and his chest ached. He had a headache and simply had no more patience for Batman's bullshit right now. He wanted _Bruce._

"Bruce," He cut off whatever his guardian was going to say next. "I wanna hug."

In an instant, Bruce was by his side and the cowl was gone from his head. "Oh, Dickie," Strong arms wrapped around him and pulled him close. "I'm so sorry, chum."

Even though it hurt, Dick slid his arms around Bruce's back. This is what complete safety felt like. This is what home felt like. He sighed against Bruce's chest and let the warmth of the embrace lull him back into slumber.

* * *

 **Six Months Later - Mount Justice**

The tension in the living room had a life of its own as Dick stared M'gann down with his most gruesome glare. The green alien in front of him did not waver, but jutted her chin out and met his glare with confidence. Dick's eyes narrowed as he ran calculations in the back of his mind.

"Got any threes?" He asked.

M'gann's bold facade broke. "How, on _any_ planet. . .?"

Dick crowed triumphantly as a card was passed to him and he threw down four threes. "I win! Again!" He added just to spite the remaining players.

"I don't think I like Go Fish." Conner said bitterly.

"Indeed," Kaldur'ahm inputted. "I did not think this game would be that hard."

"Don't let it get to you guys." Wally sighed. "This little turd is insanely good at reading people."

"All for not letting Robin play next round say aye." Artemis grumbled.

"Aye." Five people spoke up.

"I'm hurt guys."

"I'm sure you'll get over it." Artemis ribbed.

" _Recognized: Batman, 02_ "

With a grunt, Dick stood up and stretched. It felt so good to be able to move all of his muscles without pain. "Aaaand that's my cue. Try not to have too much fun without me."

"Go do your Dynamic Duo thing and leave us losers to wallow in peace." Wally grumbled and rearranged his cards.

Dick laughed and left his team to argue with Wally about who the losers really were. Batman was standing by the zeta-tubes looking solemn, though Robin could see he was hiding a slight smile. "Afternoon," He greeted. "You're like an hour late."

"Got held up at the office. Agent A packed you a lunch."

Robin smiled in delight. "Oh thank god, M'gann is a great cook, but she has nothing on good ole Agent A."

"He'd be pleased to hear you say that."

"C'mon, I tell Agent A pretty much every day that he is a god in the kitchen."

"Still makes him smile every time."

"Compliments tend to do that to people, Batman." Robin quipped. "Maybe you should try it sometime."

". . .Get in the zeta-tube."

Raising his eyebrows knowingly at his mentor, Robin stepped into the transporter. Moments later, he was smelling the smoky air of Gotham. Home sweet home, where people screaming was like white noise.

A hand clamped down on his shoulder as Batman stepped out into the dark night. "I'm proud to have you as a partner, Robin."

Robin looked up at the man who was much more to him than just his mentor. "See?" He said with a pleased smile. "It's a good feeling, isn't it?"

Batman glanced down at his healthy, full of life son. "It is."

And really, there was no sight better than seeing Dick alive and home.

* * *

 **Six Months Later - Somewhere in Mainland China**

BaiLi took a deep drag of the cigar and held it in for a pause before blowing the smoke out of their lungs. Behind the door, the assassin heard angry, heavy stomps and felt satisfaction well up in their belly. There was a bang, and the door to the bedroom was flung open. BaiLi took another drag of the cigar and gave Dajie a grin that was all teeth and no humor.

Dajie, an slim Chinese woman in her early fifties, thundered into Lao She's chamber and threw down a newspaper at their feet.

"My my, boss, you're looking well." Lao She let the cigar dangle from their fingers.

If it was possible, Dajie's face would have contorted even more into anger. "Robin has been spotted in Gotham city. _Alive._ "

Lao She shrugged. "Maybe the Bat picked up a different kid to take his place."

Dajie clenched her hands at Lao She's drawn out, bored tone. "You didn't kill him. I ordered you to kill him!"

Lao She took another puff, enjoying the way Dajie's face grew progressively more red with every second they didn't respond. "And Luthor promised you a place with the Light."

It was a pity that Dajie's head didn't explode. Lao She would have paid good money to see that. The boss of the Heishe triad clenched her fists tight and took a deep breath in. Lao She watched in amusement as their leader had to forcefully make herself calm down. Anger issues had always been her weakness. "Stop smoking that thing. It isn't right to see one so small smoke."

Lao She pinched their eyes shut and their body rippled under their loose clothes. Skin expanded, and a young adult sat where the child had once been. "Better?"

Dajie growled in frustration. "You will make this failure up to me."

Lao She placed their cigar in a special tray and leaned forward. "Oh?" They said in a quiet, dangerous voice.

Dajie bristled at the warning. "We're going after Luthor. Nobody makes a fool of the Heishe and gets away with it."

Narrowed eyes blinked, and Dajie found herself looking into the crystal clear eyes of a snake. She was frozen in place, her very soul pierced by those chilling eyes. Lao She blinked again, and their eyes went back to their normal dark brown hue. "Sounds like fun."

Dajie shuddered and gave her assassin one last nasty glare. With another irked stomp, she stormed out of the chamber.

Lao She bent down and picked up the paper that their boss had so callously thrown at them. A glossy picture of Robin graced the front page along with an article about how the boy had defeated Poison Ivy while Batman had taken down Two-Face.

"Good boy, _xiao niao_ ," They crooned and stroked the picture. "It looks like we'll be able to play another day."

* * *

 **Looks like I'll always be stuck between 'add! all! the! fluff!' and 'No, make it Darker.' I hope you guys enjoyed the final installment of _Xiao Hong Niao_. Be on the watch for more of my stories! I'm currently in the process of writing something set in season two, but look out for a one-shot I have planned about some brotherly bonding between Dick and Tim. (Of course with Dick h/c because I cannot be stopped.) I also have a sequel planned for this story, in case you couldn't tell by the little bit added at the end.**

 **Many thanks to my wonderful reviewers! I greatly appreciate every review I get. Writing this story has been fun, but I'm happy I'm finally done.**


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